Cirque du Loud
by Twisteddarkness225
Summary: A fun little story request I did where Luan Loud puts together a circus with the help of her siblings.
1. Part 1

**A while ago I was given a request to do something by one of my readers. Since then, I've been going back and forth with them, piecing this together bit by bit. It was a lot of work and I hope that you like it as much as the one who requested it. As always, honest reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.**

 **Cirque du Loud**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story.

Luan Loud was more often than not in a good mood. Any of her many siblings could attest to her joyous personality with no second thoughts whatsoever. She was a free spirit who reveled in that which was fun and comedic. Very rarely could one find the girl taking something seriously without her still finding the opportunity to make a pun.

Today however, was one such rarity. Luan had arrived home from school that Friday afternoon a little later than the rest of her sisters and brother. She had gone straight up to her room long enough to drop off her school bag and then quickly went up into the attic. After several minutes up there, she finally came back down and then secluded herself in her room. She had even gone as far as to request that Luna leave her be for a short while.

"Is everything okay, dude?" Luna had asked of her sister and roommate.

"I'm fine, I just need some peace and quiet to think. I got something important that I need to do." Luan had replied.

Luna didn't pry into the matter and had just taken her axe out to the garage. Several minutes later, she was still having so much fun shredding that she had completely forgotten about it. Luan however, was busily at work upstairs. The sound of a mechanical pencil scritching across paper filled the room. Luan hesitated with her writing for a moment, tapping the pencil's eraser against the page a few times. She quickly erased something and then immediately wrote something new down in it's place.

She continued on like that for a while longer. Writing down more and more, only to occasionally stop and correct something. Eventually she set down her pencil and reviewed her work carefully. The corners of her mouth slowly curved upwards as she found satisfaction in her completed work. Taking her phone in hand, she sent a group text to all of her siblings telling them to meet in Lori and Leni's room.

A short while later, the Loud siblings had gathered in their eldest sisters' room. Luan did a quick head count and noticed that there were a couple of missing indiviuduals. Neither Luna nor Lincoln were present, leaving Luan slightly irritated. She excused herself and left the room, following the sound of rock music. No doubt the noise had kept Luna from hearing her phone, just like always.

Luan quickly made her way out to the garage and found her older sister in the middle of a guitar solo. Knowing better than to think she could call out to her, Luan just covered her ears and walked over to unplug the amp that Luna was using. Once the din had ceased, Luna quickly looked around for the cause.

"Dude, what gives?" She asked of her roommate.

"I sent you a text, we're having a sibling meeting." Luan answered.

"We are? I didn't know we had one scheduled today."

"We didn't. I called for it. It's something important."

Luna didn't question any further and shut the door to the garage, heading back inside. Luan followed, but once they were upstairs again, she split off and went to their brother's room. She knocked on his door and got no reply. After trying again and still not getting so much as a peep in response, she tried checking to see if he was even in there at all. And he was in there alright; reading comics in his underwear. And he had his Noise-B-Gone earbuds in as well, leaving him blissfully unaware of his guest.

Luan frowned and stepped into his room. She found his shirt and pants on the floor and picked them up. Lincoln noticed her from the corner of his eye and set down his comic to look at her directly. He pulled out the earbuds and raised an eyebrow at her.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, you can."

Luan suddenly pulled Lincoln's discarded shirt over his head. Then she simply picked him up and pulled his pants on next with him squirming in her grasp the entire time. She carried him from his room down to Lori and Leni's room, earning some giggles from the other sisters as they entered. After setting him down, he frowned and gave her a dirty look, which she ignored. And now with all eleven of them in attendance, Lori brought the meeting to order.

"Alright everyone." She said, rapping her shoe on her dresser. "I'm sure we're all wondering why we were asked to meet up on such short notice. So let's give Luan the floor and hear what she has to say. Luan, you're up."

Lori took a seat on her bed beside Lucy and Luna while Luan stood in front of them all. A few of the sisters picked up on the fact that their usually sunny sister was now seeming a bit more solemn for some reason. Luan took a moment to collect her thoughts and then inhaled slowly before addressing her siblings.

"Something has been bugging me all day." She said, her tone a touch sorrowful. "I heard some of the teacher's talking today, just before homeroom. They were talking about a news story that had been on that morning, about a robbery that had taken place last night. Someone had stolen a donations can for the Detroit Children's Hospital from a coffee shop over in Beaverton. The jerk just walked in, grabbed it and ran off."

The other Loud siblings began to look at one another, a few of them whispering. Luan waited for them to finish before continuing. There was a mild anger in her eyes and she was clenching her fists tightly.

"It bugs me so much that someone could do that. There probably wasn't even that much money in there to begin with but they just took it anyway! They took something that was supposed to go towards helping sick kids like it wasn't a big deal! But it is! It's a really stinking big deal!"

Luan stomped her foot angrily, making a couple of her younger sisters jump in surprise. She took a deep breath to calm herself and gave the rest an apologetic look for her little outburst.

"Anyway, getting back to my point." She continued. "I think something needs to be done about this."

"Well what do you expect us to do?" Lynn asked. "We didn't even know about it until you told us just now!"

"She's literally right you know." Lori said. "It's not like we can go after the person responsible and get the money back."

"I know." Luan replied. "But we _can_ replace the money. Here, let me show you what I've been working on."

Luan took out an old notebook and opened it up. She stopped on a page with lots of untidy scribbles on it, dated years ago. Then she held it up for all of them to see.

"This is an assignment I had to do back at Royal Woods Elementary, for Social Studies class. We had to come up with a way to do something to help out the community and I thought up a circus fundraiser. One where all the proceeds go to a charity."

She turned the page, showing something similar on the next one. However this one had writing that was more recent, not to menton much neater. Luan had her siblings scootch closer so they could all get a better look at her work.

"I went over it and made a few changes from what I thought up way back then." She told them. "And I really think that this could be a success. But it's a big project and I can't do it alone. I know that it's a lot to ask of you, but..."

"Hold that thought." Lori interupted.

The eldest Loud child got up and left the room. Luan watched her go, feeling a mixture of confusion and worry. She knew that she was making a big request, but Lori wasn't really about to walk out on her, was she? Thankfully Lori returned not more than a minute later with both Rita and Lynn Sr. following her. She looked to Luan, gave her a smile and gestured for Luan to continue speaking.

"Go ahead, tell Mom and Dad what you were just telling us."

Luan smiled, feeling gratitude towards her big sister for thinking of bringing their parents in on this. She quickly repeated what she had already said and then showed Mr. and Mrs. Loud her idea. From there she started to go over all the details that she had thought through so far. Her hopes were to use the high school's grounds to set up the event. That way they'd have plenty of space to use as well as have ample parking for the attendees. Her plans also included a concessions stand which could provide a variety of beverages and snacks which would help raise even more money.

By the time she had finished explaining her idea, Luan found her family staring at her silently. Then her mother and father both pulled her into a hug, both of them beaming with pride.

"Oh Sweetie, that is a wonderful idea!" Rita exclaimed.

"You can count on us to help you, we're behind you one hundred percent." Lynn Sr. added.

"Really? You mean it?" Luan asked, almost having trouble believing what she was hearing.

"Absolutely!" Rita assured her. "In fact, I'm going to head downstairs and start making a few calls right now. Starting with your school to try and get you the space you'll need."

"And I have a really great recipe for candied apples that you can sell." Lynn Sr. said. "And I bet I can find a bunch of other ideas for snacks that can help bring in more money too! I'll be down in the kitchen if anyone needs me."

The parents left and Luan began to feel giddy. Things were going better than she had expected. At least so far they were. She still needed to see if her siblings were on board as well.

"So? Can I count on you guys to help out too?" She asked, turning to look at them all.

"Uh, duh! Of course we will!" Leni said, throwing her arms up excitedly.

"Just let us know what you need us to do and consider it done." Lori said.

Lynn jumped up and down, thrusting her hand into the air. "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I want to be shot out of a cannon!"

"Why would you want to do that?" Lincoln asked, giving his older sister a quizzical look.

"Why wouldn't I want to do it?" Lynn countered. "It's a guaranteed adrenaline rush! I've always wanted to try it!"

"It also sounds dangerous." Lincoln added.

"Which is why it'll be perfect for the show!" Luan exclaimed, quickly writting it down. "We can work out the safety details later. But do you think you could do some acrobatic stuff too?"

"Sure thing, sis." Lynn said. "While we're at it, maybe I could try something like lion taming!"

"Uhh, leave that kinda stuff to me, thanks." Lana cut in. "I can wrestle gators, so a silly old lion won't be that tough. Ooh! I can do both!"

Luan nodded and continued writing. "Not sure where we'll get a lion or an alligator, but again, we can worry about that later. Anybody else have ideas? Don't be shy, just come out and say them."

The rest of the meeting proceeded as such. The many siblings all voiced ideas for Luan's circus, the comedian writing them all down regardless of how likely they could be done. By the time they had gone over every little thing that they could think up, Luan had several notes scribbled down on the pages following her initial plan. That evening, she was almost unable to fall asleep. She was far too eager to get to work on everything. But after a late night snack and a little white noise, she thankfully found sleep.

-Two days later-

Luan raced home, going as fast as she could on her unicycle. Her latest birthday gig had run a little longer than expected as the parents of the birthday girl had requested she stay for another hour. She was grateful for the extra money, but now she was running late. When she arrived back at her home, she rode around to the back yard where she found her sisters and brother busily working.

"Sorry, I took longer than I thought!" She announced, hopping off of her unicycle and letting it crash onto the ground. "How is everything going?"

"Fine." Lincoln answered, approaching her with a clipboard. "We're actually a bit ahead of schedule. Lucy's fortuneteller booth is pretty much ready aside of the paint and Leni is almost finished with everyone's outfits. Want to take a look?"

Luan nodded and Lincoln led her through the yard, towards the garage where Leni was at work. On the way they passed by some of their other sisters, all of whom were eager to show off what they had accomplished so far. Lynn was first, the athletic girl previously working on building a ramp with Lana's assistance. In her hands was a slightly torn sheet of notebook paper which she eagerly shoved into their faces. On it was a crude drawing of what seemed to be an obstacle course of some sort.

"Check it out! I finally figured out the layout for my daredevil run. It's pretty sick if I do say so myself."

"Well let's take a look." Luan said, taking the paper from Lynn. "Wow, this looks kinda complicated. Are you sure you can pull this off?"

"Pfft, are you kidding? I could do this in my sleep! It's easy-peasy. Here, let me walk you through it." Lynn said, pointing to one side of the paper. "First I start on a platform and ride across a rope to a smaller platform. Both of those will be over a large pit of deadly snakes. From there I'll bunny hop my bike across a lot more tiny platforms, which will all be over a pit of hot tar, to a second ramp that leads down through a few flaming hoops for me to jump through. After that I'll speed my way through some swinging blades and then do a big jump at the end. A jump that goes over a pool of piranhas. Pretty sweet, am I right?"

There was a momentary silence following Lynn's proposed daredevil act. Lincoln stared with his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide. Luan however seemed less shocked and more contemplative. She took Lynn's drawing and gave it a closer look, letting out a 'hmm' while she thought for a few seconds.

"I love the ambition, Lynn. But there's just one little thing I feel I should point out." Luan said.

"Really?" Lincoln asked. "Only one?"

"You might want to switch that last jump to something different. I don't know where we'd get real piranhas from."

" _That's_ the problem?!" Lincoln blurted out.

"Well what do you think is wrong with my idea?" Lynn asked, putting one hand onto her hip.

Lincoln sighed. "I don't know. How about the fact that Mom and Dad won't let you do _any_ of that?"

"Why not? They're gonna let me get fired out of the cannon!" Lynn huffed out.

"Only because Lisa put together all of those safety precautions for you." the boy returned. "And they still never agreed to letting you or Lana do that lion taming act."

"He does have a point." Luan admitted.

"Okay, fine! Whatever!" Lynn snapped, snatching her paper from Luan and shoving it against Lincoln's chest. "If you're so smart, then why don't you figure out my routine for me?"

A soft wheeze came from the boy as a result of the sudden pressure. He sucked in a little air and gave a weak nod in response to his sister's request. Lynn crossed her arms and went to head inside while Luan and Lincoln continued on their walk into the garage. Once inside they found Leni along with Lori and Lily. The baby girl spotted her brother and silliest big sister and crawled over to them. This caught the attention of Lori, who turned to face them, giving them both a better look at her current attire.

Lori was dressed in a pair of fitting black pants, a baby blue tail coat and white gloves. The outfit also came with a black top hat with a blue band sitting above the brim and Lori's whistle, which Leni had polished. She grabbed the top hat from it's place on a nearby table and put it on, flashing her siblings a big smile.

"So, what do you think?" She asked. "Leni says it looks good, but I feel like the hat just doesn't seem 'me'."

"I think it looks nice." Lincoln said. "But how about trying it with your hair in a ponytail?"

The eldest sister turned to face a full-length mirror that Leni had in the garage. She took a moment to consider Lincoln's suggestion and then gave it a try. Leni, who had come fully prepared with all sorts of accessories, handed a hair elastic to her big sister. Lori tied her hair back, put the top hat on and then faced her reflection.

"Ooh, not bad." She said, a touch of self admiration in her voice. "Hello there Miss Loud. You literally look amazing."

"Aw, thanks!" Leni chirped. "I think you look amazing too, Lori!"

"Uh, thanks, Leni." Lori said, opting not to correct her roommate. "Anyway, just wait until you see Lily's costume. It is the _cutest_!"

Lori stepped over to Lily and picked her up. She carried her over to a costume rack with many outfits hanging on it. Grabbing a hanger with a small costume meant for Lily, Lori quickly dressed up the infant, resulting in a bit of fussing from her. But despite all of Lily's squirming, Lori succeeded and set her youngest sister back down. Lily was now dressed in a little violet clown outfit with pink polka-dots and a frilly, pink collar. A pair of baby-sized clown shoes were on her tiny feet, making them look comically larger.

The moment they saw Lily in her clown outfit, all four of her older siblings began to smile at the sight. Lily however didn't find it as enjoyable at they did. She rarely kept her clothes on, preferring to crawl around in her diaper most of the time as she found it more comfortable. And the shoes felt weird to her too. They were too big and it was a little awkward for her to move without standing upright on two feet as opposed to the easier method of using all fours. She tried to take a step forward and wound up making a fascinating discovery.

Her shoes squeaked when she walked.

Lily took another step and again heard her footwear let out the silly noise. She giggled in delight and clapped her hands, starting to step in place. With each new squeak made by her shoes, she let out giggle after giggle, her dislike of them now completely forgotten.

"Aww!" The four older Louds all said at once.

"That is totes adorbs!" Leni cooed.

"I don't think she's going to want to take those shoes off. Ever." Lincoln noted.

"Good! I don't want her to take any of that outfit off ever!" Luan exclaimed, watching Lily with pure adoration in her eyes. "This is just the best! There's no way our audience won't love our clown act with this little cutie! Right Lilster?"

Luan kneeled down and held out her hands towards Lily. Lily walked over to her big sister, still highly amused by her noisy shoes. Luan took Lily's hands and slowly walked backwards, guiding Lily out of the garage. She gave a passing glance to their other siblings as she went.

"I'm taking miss silly Lily up to my room to try and practice some of the routine I have planned. But don't hesitate to come and get me if you need me for anything. Okay?"

Lincoln nodded. "You got it. But I don't think that will be an issue. We have everything set for now. We're even ahead of schedule, remember? Everything is going good."

-Later that week, three days before the show-

Things were going even better than anticipated. Luan could hardly believe the progress they had made in such a short amount of time. They had a location they could use, just where Luan had planned to go too. Her school's field had a large set of bleachers on either side, granting ample seating for a large crowd. Not to mention the space she and her siblings would need to set up and perform their acts. With that taken care of, she had the biggest concern off of her list of things to do. Now she just needed to focus on making sure they'd have all the necessary props and other items for the event. That and hope for decent weather, not that she could do much about that.

Luan checked the local forecast for Royal Woods over the next few days with her phone. At the moment the weather only had a low chance of rain. But she knew that could easily change as time marched forward. Her experience with her clowning business had taught her that keeping an eye on the weather was important when planning an outdoor event. And unlike any of the birthday parties she performed for, she couldn't just move the act inside if a sudden downpour began. This was especially a big concern as there was a very crucial part of her plans that was still missing.

They didn't have a tent. Not one that would be large enough to cover the entire area they were going to be using anyway. Luan had considered asking Leni if she could help out with that, but it was far too large a project for just one person. To make matters worse, she had no luck at all finding one that met her needs that she could rent or buy for the occasion either. She could go without it, she supposed, but then she'd really have to hope that there wouldn't be any rain when the big day came. No one would want to attend if they were stuck outside during a storm.

Letting out a sigh, Luan got up from the couch and went up the stairs to head into her room. But as she ascended the steps she heard the sound of arguing. Once she got to the top, she found Lana and Lynn in the middle of a heated argument. Lincoln was there as well, trying his best to mediate.

"Both of you just calm down!" The boy said, raising his voice a little.

"What's going on here?" Luan asked.

"Lynn ruined my act!" Lana exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the jock.

"I did not!" Lynn said.

"Yeah you did! You told Mom and Dad that I shouldn't get to wrestle an alligator!"

"No, I said that it wasn't fair that you get to do that when they already said no to the lion taming act. Or to letting me have snakes or piranhas for my daredevil run!"

"They aren't letting you do any of the run, Lynn." Lincoln pointed out.

"Thanks to you ratting my plans out to them!" Lynn spat.

"Oh, so because Mom and Dad won't let you do your dumb ideas, I don't get to do mine?" Lana asked, crossing her arms angrily.

"ENOUGH!" Lincoln shouted, standing between his two arguing sisters. "Lana, I know you aren't happy about this. But Mom and Dad were just trying to be fair. If Lynn can't use dangerous animals in her acts, then they didn't think any of us should."

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?" The first grader asked.

Lincoln took a moment to think. "We do have lots of pets that you can use in your act. Maybe you and I can think up something. Would that be okay?"

Lana nodded and Lincoln asked her to wait in his room so they could begin planning out something new for her act. Then he told Lynn he'd see her afterwards so he could help her with hers next. He had already come up with some ideas for it which he had gotten approved by their parents. All that was left was to run them by her and see what she thought. And he was confident she'd like what she heard.

Once both Lana and Lynn had left the hall, Lincoln let out a sigh of relief. He turned to face Luan, offering her a small smile. A silent way to give her an apology for the display she had walked in on. Luan was just relieved, not to mention grateful, that he had been there to help. Her brother had proven to be an incredibly helpful assistant from the minute they had started working towards Luan's goal. The initiative he had taken from day one had really been the key to what they had all accomplished so far.

"Thanks for taking care of that, Linc."

"Anytime. It's just a good thing that I don't have an act of my own to prepare for. With all the running around I'm doing, I doubt I'd have any time for practice."

Luan smirked. "Then it's a good thing I wasn't able to talk you into doing one! Never thought I'd be happy to lose an argument!" She giggled out. Then she took a quick look around to make sure no one else was nearby before leaning over to whisper to him. "The day after our circus, I'm taking you out for ice cream as a thank you for being so helpful. But I'm just taking you, so keep it a secret."

Lincoln nodded and mimed closing a zipper over his mouth. He then turned to head into his room to begin helping out Lana while Luan return to her room. Inside she found Luna lounging on the top bunk with her headphones on. She was no doubt enjoying the free time she had since she was among the few siblings who were fully prepared for the upcoming event. Her hours of practice with her many different instruments had left the rocker with little need to do much aside of compose some pieces to accompany each act, which Luna had the foresight to record so they could be played at the push of a button. Now she, along with Lucy, Lori and Lisa, only needed to wait until that Saturday when they'd go before a huge crowd and entertain them for the sake of charity. Luan was happy that things were going so smoothly for some of them, albeit slightly envious.

Luan took a seat on her own bed and pulled out her notebook, looking over the plans she had made for the circus. Taking into account the changes for both Lynn and Lana's routines, she found that there was little concern regarding the show as a whole. But at the same time, now she was starting to worry. What if there were other issues that could arise? What about anything that might come up at the last minute? Were they even as prepared as they thought they were? And there was still the matter of the tent. What if they couldn't get one and then the weather ended up being terrible that day? She'd hate to have to reschedule the event, or even be forced to cancel it just because of that.

A heavy sigh escaped her and she laid down. She was being paranoid. Her nerves were just getting the better of her because she was focusing too much on negative things. A little rest would help to clear her mind. Then she'd have a little comfort food and try tackling the tent issue again. There was still plenty of time left, she just needed to take it one step at a time, regardless of any problems that could come up.

-Friday evening, the day before the big show-

The Loud siblings had gathered in Lori and Leni's room for their after dinner meeting. They had already gone over the previous meeting's minutes and covered any old business that was of importance. As they moved onto the new business, Lori handed over the floor to Luan. The comedian handed off the minutes she had been recording of their current meeting so far. Lori took over recording as her younger sister took a place in the center of the room, all eyes on her.

"I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you again for all you're doing to help me out. It's been a lot of work and I know that it meant giving up a lot of your free time, so it really means a lot to me that you helped. All of our efforts are finally going to pay off tomorrow afternoon. But if there is any last minute concerns you have, I want you to let me know about them now. Do any of you need any more help? Or have any questions?"

She looked around the room. None of her sisters or her brother seemed to have anything to bring up. Aside of Lisa, who politely raised her hand as Luan looked in her direction.

"Need help with something, Lis?" Luan asked.

"Quite the opposite, actually." the little genius said, adjusting her glasses. "I have something to help _you_ , my fourth eldest sister. A solution regarding your lack of a light conical canvas to erect over the area in which we shall perform for the masses."

A moment of silence followed Lisa's statement. Luan stared, her mind translating what the four year old had said into something less verbose. And as she came to understand it, Luan's eyes lit up and she smiled from ear to ear with excitement.

"You found us a tent to use?!" She joyously exclaimed.

"Well, not exactly." Lisa admitted. "But what I have should prove to be equally efficient, if not more suitable."

"What do you mean by that?" Luan asked.

Lisa gave a small smile and took a small item from her pocket. It was a plastic ball, hardly any larger than an egg. At first glance Luan thought that it didn't seem to be anything special. But knowing Lisa, there was bound to be more to the mundane looking object than she could imagine. The young and brilliant brunette took out a remote and gently tossed the orb up into the air. She pushed a button on the remote and four little arms suddenly sprang out of the orb, each with a tiny propeller that started to whirl rapidly.

"Behold!" Lisa said, gesturing to her device. "This orb is capable of achieving and maintaining an altitude of up to seven hundred sixty-two centimeters, or twenty-five feet, for a duration of four hours. Once in position, it can project any color in the spectrum and even generate an energy shield which can repel precipitation!"

"Oh, uh, neat." Luan said, not completely understanding. "So this can keep everyone dry if it starts to rain?"

"Yes, but not only that. Here, please observe."

Lisa pushed another button on her remote. The hovering orb then shimmered and a holographic shape began to appear beneath it. Alternating wide stripes of red and white stretched down to the floor, rippling like a piece of cloth caught in the wind. The image looked so real that Luan believed if she reached out, she could actually touch it.

"Impressed, I see." Lisa noted. "This not only creates the ambiance of a genuine circus tent, but it will also shut out strong sunlight and winds, in addition to the aforementioned capabilities. Not to mention the benefits it will provide in the various performances we shall be engaging in, come tomorrow afternoon. In fact, I suggest we open the circus by having my invention and it's duplicates propel themselves up and around the area, generating the image of the tent around the audience. I have no doubt whatsoever that it will leave them gaping in awe."

Lisa shut down her device, catching it as it slowly descended to the ground. She pocketed the item and looked up to her elder sister, awaiting her reaction to the demonstration she had just witnessed. Luan began to smile again and held her arms out as she approached the four year old.

"I'm going to give you the _biggest_ hug right now!"

"Um, that will not be necessary." Lisa said, taking a small step back. "A simple verbal expression of your gratitude is more than sufficient. No need for physical contact."

Despite her polite request, Lisa still found herself being pulled into a tight embrace. She squirmed to get free, but her efforts were in vain. Luan's arms were squeezing her too tightly for her to escape and she had to endure the duration of the hug. Once she was finally set back down, she retreated back to the spot were she had been seated and Luan returned to where she had been standing in the middle of the room.

"So, does anyone else have anything that they want to add? No last minute questions or concerns for tomorrow?"

This time none of the other ten Loud siblings raised their hands. A few of them shook their heads, indicating that they had no issues whatsoever. Luan then took back the minutes from Lori, allowing the older girl to resume the meeting. Lori took her place in front of the others again, a knowing smile coming to her lips.

"Moving onto our next item. I have a surprise for us all." She announced. "A certain restaurant we all like is doing a certain event we all love."

"The International House of Waffles is doing their 'All you can eat' deal?!" Luna cried out with mirthful surprise.

Lori nodded. "Bingo."

"Aw, sweet!" Lynn cheered. "When is it?"

"It starts at noon tomorrow." Lori answered.

A chorus of cheers filled the room. The girls began to jump around, pumping their fists in the air and hollering over how excited they were. The only one who didn't seem to be happy about this announcement was Luan, who quickly rushed back into the center of the room, waving her arms to gain everyone's attention.

"Hold on! Hold on!" She called out. "Tomorrow? As in, when we're supposed to be setting up and performing our circus? That tomorrow?!"

"Luan, relax." Lori said. "We'll have plenty of time to go there, eat and then come back for the circus."

"But the nearest IHOW is three towns over!" Luan pointed out. "And we need to bring everything to the high school field and set all of it up first!"

"Don't worry about it, dudette." Luna said. "I asked Chunk to lend us a hand with hauling around our stuff. He's gonna help us get all prepped too. We'll get up early, set everything up while we work up an appetite and then go chow down."

"Luna's right, Luan." Lori said. "We'll get there before it gets too busy and be back with plenty of time to spare. The show doesn't start until three, right?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"But nothing. I promise you that everything will work out." Lori reassured. "We know how much this means to you, so we aren't going to go and mess things up for you by running late to our own event. Trust us."

Luan was silent for a couple of seconds. But then she smiled, the worry that had been rising up in her now subsiding. Lori had made a strong point. After all of the effort that they had all made, she knew they wouldn't want it to go to waste. Especially not with how important they knew it was to her.

"Okay." She said. "But if that's the case then we need to get ready for bed A.S.A.P."

Lori gave her a short nod and turned to face the others. "You heard the lady, get your butts into your pajamas and then march into the bathroom to brush your teeth! I'll be checking in on each of you to make sure you're all in bed by eight o' clock! Now march!"

The younger siblings all began to do as they were told. As they filed out of the room, Lori and Leni began to get ready for bed themselves. Leni went into their shared closet to select a nightgown to wear while Lori went out to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Afterwards she returned to her room to change and make her usual call to Bobby before bed. And just as she had said, she did a quick round to make sure all ten of her younger siblings had gone to bed before she herself laid down for the night. She gave Bobby one final text for the night and settled beneath her comforter, soon taken into sleep's gentle embrace.

Meanwhile, across the hallway, Luan was also settling down in her own bed. But unlike Lori, she wasn't having as easy a time falling asleep. Now that the big day was just around the corner, she was having trouble keeping her mind off of everything that was ahead of them. The long list of things which needed to be done in the morning aside, she found herself also thinking of things that could possibly go wrong. And if something did go wrong, then what? Would she need to give out refunds? Would people ask for them, even knowing that it was all going towards a charity?

Luan turned over and pulled her blanket up, covering her entire body. She was just nervous. This was the first time she had something so big riding on a gig. And it was one heck of a gig too. She just needed to calm down and remember she had her family backing her up. As long as they were there with her, everything would be just fine.

 **To be Continued**

 **Okay, so that's it for part 1 of this story. But there will be an update soon, so keep your eyes open for it! As mentioned before the story began, this was a request that has been in the making for a good while so I made sure to have it completely ready for the sake of the requester. And in the event anyone else may wish to make a request, I'm sorry to say that I won't be doing so for a short while due to the fact that I yet again fell behind my other stories. But check my profile page from time to time. If I do start to take requests, I'll have it posted there.**


	2. Part 2

**Cirque du Loud Part 2**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story.

-The following morning-

The set up had gone without a hitch. The concessions stand was ready to go, as was the ticket booth. Lucy's fortune telling booth was off to the side, sitting in the shade at the goth's request. A temporary fence made of chicken-wire had been set up in front of the area where the main event would take place, ensuring only paying customers could get inside. And aside of the holographic tent which would be set up as the show started, everything was ready and with plenty of time to spare.

But regardless of how smoothly things were proceeding so far, Luan still felt it necessary to check in on every little detail. She had already gone over the speaker set up with Luna, testing them to ensure that they could be heard loud and clear. Lisa had put together a collection of oddities, displayed via holograms, that had been shown in circuses in years past, providing tidbits of information about them as well. The fact that they were interactive compensated for none of them being the real deal.

The minutes flew by, the sun rising higher into the sky as noon steadily approached. Luan watched as all of her siblings loaded themselves into the van, eagerly awaiting their anticipated trip to the IHOW. Lori, from the driver's seat, looked out at her pun loving sister and poked her head out the open window a little.

"Are you sure that you don't want to come along?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Luan replied. "I want to keep an eye on things here with Mom and Dad. Besides, you know I prefer pancakes over waffles."

Lori shrugged. "Okay, suit yourself. We'll be back soon. Promise."

The eldest sibling backed Vanzilla up and turned the large vehicle to leave. As they passed her by, the other Louds waved at Luan. She waved back, watching them until they were out of the parking lot and off to their destination.

Luan checked her watch. It was half past eleven in the morning now. It wouldn't take them long to get there, but what was really going to take up time was waiting for a table. That and waiting for their food. But Luan trusted that they'd be back in time. It wasn't like it would take more than three hours to go, eat and come back. Luan was confident that they'd be back before she saw even one person coming to purchase a ticket.

\- Two o' clock, one hour before before the big show-

Things were looking bad. Luan counted more than two dozen people waiting to buy tickets so far. And there was no sign at all of her siblings. She had received a text from Lori informing her that they were on their way, but that had been nearly an hour ago. There had been absolutely nothing else from any of her siblings since then and if they didn't get back soon...well, she wasn't sure what would happen. She could only try to delay things for so long before people would get fed up with waiting. And there were still newcomers arriving to join the line as time marched forward.

Luan weighed her options carefully. She could easily allow people to buy their tickets now and start roaming around the area. Between Lisa's sideshow, the concessions stand run by her father and the various circus props and circus-themed photo cutout boards Luan had gotten for people to enjoy, there was plenty to keep them occupied until three o' clock. In addition to those, Chunk had also offered to assist by doing facepainting and caricatures. Not to mention that Luan could easily perform a little bit to help entertain the crowd, giving them a little taste of what was to come.

Taking a deep breath, Luan stepped over to the ticket booth. She told her mother she could proceed with letting them pay for their tickets. Rita opened up the booth and the first customer stepped forward, cash already in hand. The people waiting in line gradually entered the area and Luan hurried off to change into one of her clown outfits. But as she was on her way, she noticed something that she had completely forgotten about.

Lucy's fortunetelling booth. She wasn't there to run it. Luan felt a mild panic rise up inside of her, but quickly overcame the feeling. It was just one little setback, no big deal. She'd just hang around the area, doing animal balloons for the kids. And if anyone asked about it, she'd just tell the truth. The fortuneteller was running late and should be on her way. Heck, for all Luan knew, Lucy and the rest of her siblings would be arriving any second now.

Luan continued over to where the costumes had been set aside and quickly changed into her outfit. After she finished applying her makeup, she grabbed a fanny-pack full of balloons and hopped onto her unicycle. She rode over to the area where the fortunetelling booth was and started inlfating a couple balloons, drawing the attention of some patrons. As she expected, there were questions regarding Lucy's booth, but luckily there wasn't any issues with the fact that it wasn't open yet.

A short while later the line at the ticket booth had completely diminished and a sizable crowd was spread throughout the area. There were now lines at the concessions stand and Chunk's stand. Another small line had formed just outside the fence surrounding the main field, all of the people intending to get the best seats when the time came for the big show. And Luan, between her balloon animals and general clowning around, had a good number of onlookers as well. The clown was so busy tending to her audience, that she almost didn't notice some of them diverging off to the side. Starting to line up at the fortunetelling booth.

"Sorry folks." Luan said. "But that booth isn't...open?"

To Luan's complete surprise, the booth was in fact open. Lucy was there, shuffling her deck of tarot cards. Luan looked around and spotted the familiar faces of her siblings. She excused herself from the group of people she had been entertaining and rode her unicycle over to them, hopping off once she was in front of them.

"Where were you?!" She asked with mild frustration, throwing her hands in the air. "You said you were on your way an hour ago!"

"Yeah, and then I told you we were running late because Vanzilla broke down again." Lori said, putting her hand on her hip. "But you never replied. I tried to call you too, but you didn't answer. Neither did Mom or Dad, but they were so busy that they didn't know I was trying to get ahold of them. What's your excuse?"

"What do you mean you tried to call me? I had my ringer on and didn't get any...oh..." Luan trailed off, having pulled out her phone and realizing that it wasn't on. "Oops. I think my battery must've run out. I guess that's why I didn't get your texts or call. Sorry."

Lori sighed. "It's fine. I just didn't want you to worry yourself sick because you didn't know where we were."

"Well, at least you got here with enough time to prepare. I'm relieved that I don't have to try and stall for time. Go and get ready. I'll go and double check that everthing is ready to go for Lynn's high wire act."

"Yeah, um...about that." Lori began, rubbing the back of her neck. "I have a little bad news. While we were at IHOW, there was some guy there who was a competitive eater and Lynn challenged him to a waffle eating contest. And she won."

Luan looked around to see her athletic younger sister. Lynn wasn't looking too good. She was leaning on Leni for support and had one hand over her belly which seemed to be buldging outa little bit. She offered a weak smile and tried to stand by herself, but only wound up leaning on Leni again.

"I'm fine." Lynn said. "I can still do my acts."

"Poppycock!" Lisa said. "You're in no condition to do anything other than rest. If anything you should count yourself fortunate that you didn't rupture your stomach after ingesting so much food so rapidly."

"I said I'm fine!" Lynn insisted. "Just push my act back a little and once I've had a bit of time to digest, I'll be ready."

"Well, what if you aren't feeling better by then?" Luan asked. "I don't need you blowing chunks in front of the audience! As much as I hate to say it, you're gonna have to sit out of the whole show."

"But what about my acts? You can't tell me you want to cancel them all! I'm doing half the dang show! Plus I'm in Lisa's act too!"

Luan groaned. Lynn had a fair point. Without her, not only were all of the acts she had planned out of question, but now Lisa didn't have a volunteer for her magic act. The possibility of having either their mother or father participate in Lynn's acts crossed her mind, especially since they were both already part of the clown act. But she doubted that they would be able to do any of it on such short notice. Not even if Lincoln helped them rehearse like he had done with Lynn...

Wait...that was it!

"Lincoln!" Luan gasped out, looking towards her little brother. "You helped each of us rehearse our acts! You could take Lynn's place!"

"Say what?" Lynn asked.

"I'm with her. Say _WHAT_?!" Lincoln exclaimed.

Luan kneeled down in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Hear me out. You know her acts just as well as she does. If anyone could do it, it's you."

"Knowing her acts and actually performing them are two completely different things!" He pointed out. "Sure, I can take her place in Lisa's act, but there's no way I can do her daredevil run or the high wire act! And I am NOT getting fired out of a cannon!"

"Please Lincoln!" Luan begged. "I know it's a big request, but I don't have a lot of choices here! Don't forget this is for charity! Think of how much good the money we get can do for those kids in the hospital! Do it for them!"

"We can rearrange the show a little bit to buy you time while Lynn gives you some pointers on what to do." Lori added. "And don't forget that Lisa has safety measures in place for literally everything. You'll be fine."

Lincoln was silent for a few moments, hesitant to say anything. But after thinking it over a little, he agreed. He wasn't crazy about it, but he didn't want to let all of their hard work be for nothing. The circus wouldn't be as interesting with three of the acts out of the running. And he really didn't want to let Luan down. Not with how important this was to her.

After a quick thank you hug from Luan, Lincoln went off to get ready. Since he didn't have his own outfits prepared like the rest of them, Leni had to take in the one Lynn was going to be using. It was just a good thing that Lynn wasn't much taller than Lincoln, otherwise she may not have had enough time. The other siblings also went off to change and ready themselves for their respective acts while Luan returned to the crowd she had been entertaining just a few short minutes ago.

Three O' clock came and all of the people who paid admission lined up to enter the main area for the circus. Rita began to let them in, checking their tickets as they passed by. Roughly five to ten minutes later, the bleachers on either side of the field were filled with the many people awaiting the promised entertainment. It wasn't a full house, but still quite the turnout. Luan could hardly contain her excitement. She couldn't even begin to imagine how much money they raised for the children's hospital.

"Okay everyone!" Lori announced, dressed in her ring leader outfit. "We're about to go on, so if any of you are nervous, just take some deep breaths and remember everything we did in our practice sessions. Leni, you and Lola are going first while Lynn gives Lincoln a quick coaching session for the high wire act. Be ready when I call you out!"

The two blondes nodded, both wearing stylish unitards. Leni's was seafoam green, Lola's a vibrant pink. And both girls had their hair tied back into french braids, Lola sporting twin tails while Leni had a solitary braid dangling from the back of her head. They took position while Lori walked out into the center of the field, carrying a microphone and a duffel bag with her.

The sound of applause began as Lori approached stood out in the open. She gave it a moment to wait for the clapping to end and then turned on the microphone. After giving it a little tap to make sure that it and the speakers were working, she took a steady breath and addressed the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Cirque du Loud! Before we begin the first of our acts this afternoon, I'd like to thank you all for your patronage today. One hundred percent of the proceeds shall be donated to the Detroit Children's Hospital the minute the show is over."

A second round of applause interrupted Lori. She gave a little bow, tipping her top hat to the crowd. Once it quieted down again, she picked up from where she left off.

"Thank you, but you're the ones who truly deserve the applause. The amount of money we've collected so far will make worlds of difference for those children. And should any of you feel the need to keep on giving, we do have a donations box ready for when the time comes for you to depart. But for now, let the show... _begin!"_

Lori unzipped the duffel bag and opened it wide. From within, dozens of Lisa's little flying orbs ascended up into the air. Each of them was glowing a brilliant color of the spectrum and whirring around over the audieance. People looked up at the sight, some pointing at the colorful objects. After a short display where they arced around the field, their lights changing slowly over the course of the flight, the orbs all flew off to a programmed set of coordinates overhead where they would remain hovering in place for the rest of the show. Once in position, Lori activated their primary programming which caused each of them to begin shimmering and projecting images much like what had occured the preceding night in Lori and Leni's bedroom. Soon, the holographic image of an entire circus tent had been generated over the area, leaving the audience gaping with awe.

The crowd then erupted in a combination of clapping, cheering and whistles. Lori smiled at the response, barely able to hear the classic circus theme music beginning to play over the din of the audience. Once they all settled down again, she introduced Leni and Lola for the first act. The two entered, Leni riding on Luan's unicycle with Lola sitting on her shoulders. The smaller blonde was twirling a ribbon from each of her hands. The elegant strands of fabric trailed behind them as Leni rode around the field.

Meanwhile, off to the side the other Loud siblings watched their sisters perform. All aside of Lynn and Lincoln, the boy trying to listen to his sister's advice. But if he were to be honest with himself, he was far too nervous to keep his attention on what Lynn was saying. It wasn't until Lynn pinched his arm that he snapped out of it and looked her in the eye.

"Hey! Don't ignore me when I'm trying to help you!" She snipped.

"I'm sorry. It isn't that I wanted to ignore you. I just can't stop thinking about how terrifying it's going to be!"

Lynn sighed and sat up slowly, reaching up to puther hand on his shoulder. "Okay, look. Yeah, I know it's not going to be as easy for you as it is for me. But I'm trying to make it so you can go up there and pull it off. Remember when we were little and did gymnastics together at day camp?"

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Good. Think of how you walked across the balance beam. Except it's a wire and you are going to be much higher up. So don't look down, go nice and slow and you'll be fine. Okay?"

"I...I guess so...I think."

Lynn sighed again. "Would it help if Lisa explained her stupid safety measures to you?"

Lincoln nodded rapidly.

"Lisa!" Lynn called. "Come here for a sec!"

Their younger sister emerged from a makeshift changing area consisting of a tall circular red curtain with a with a matching cover. Lisa took a moment to adjust her glasses and then walked over to them. She had just finished changing into her outfit for her act, a forest green pantsuit with a tophat which had a similar colored band above the brim.

"For what reason have you summoned me? Do you require my assisstance in some manner?" She asked.

"Yep. Linc is starting to wuss out. Tell him what would happen if he fell while walking across the wire."

"Very well." Lisa said, facing her elder brother. "Lincoln, should you lose your balance and plummet to the ground..."

"Your choice of words isn't really helping." Lincoln said nervously.

"Noted. But regardless, should you fall, you would do so at an accelerating velocity due to the force of gravity. Before you could even reach the halfway point between the wire and the ground, the safety measures would activate. My Safety-Suit, patent pending, would detect the sudden decline in your altitude and trigger the inflation of multiple air bags which would cushion your landing. You wouldn't feel anything other than the painless impact of your protected body upon the field. It is for this reason that we omitted setting up a safety net as it won't be necessary."

"Well, what if your suit doesn't activate in time?" Lincoln asked, his voice full of worry.

"In the unlikely event that should occur, I will simply activate it remotely. I will be watching and assure you that I won't let you be hurt, Lincoln. I swear on my promising career as a young scientist."

Lincoln looked Lisa in the eyes and started to seem less afraid. The younger girl, in a rare gesture, offered a hug to further help comfort him. He happily accepted and then went to watch the end of Leni and Lola's act. The duration of it had mostly been Leni riding around on Luan's unicycle, going over a few small jumps here and there while passing by the bleachers a couple times. She continued to circle around, going over a few more slightly larger jumps while moving towards the middle of the field. There she had done a trick shown to her by Luan where she spun the unicycle in place continuously while Lola continued to use the ribbons to dazzle the onlooking crowd.

"Wow." Lincoln commented. "Leni really got the hang of riding a unicycle."

"I know." Luan said, standing beside him. "It took a lot of practice but we got her there. Although having Lola do a routine with her did help. That girl is a perfectionist when it comes to her performances."

Back out in the field, Leni stopped her spins and began focusing on just keeping the one-wheeler in place. Lola passed her ribbons to Leni so she could then carefully prepare herself to stand, her feet planted on Leni's shoulders. Leni passed the ribbons back up to Lola and then held out her hands to the sides while Lola stood upright. The younger blonde did so while resuming her ribbon twirling, the music changing to a steady drumroll. Lola then bent her knees a tiny bit and then leaped off of Leni, performing a double somersault before sticking an elegant landing on one foot. She then wrapped things up by performing a few pirouettes, holding her ribbons so one was higher than the other as they spun around her.

Lola slowed to a stop and gave a bow to the applauding crowd, Leni following suit while still on the unicycle. The two blondes then went over to join their siblings and take a seat. Luan brought the two of them bottles of water, Leni happily accepting hers. She was sweating a little bit, but other than that, she seemed to be practically glowing.

"That was, like, so much fun!" She said. "I totes need to get one of those half-bike thingies for myself!"

"You can borrow mine any time, as long as I'm not going to need it." Luan said. "Great job by the way! You too, Lola!

"You're welcome." Lola said, opening her water and taking a sip.

"You made it look so easy!" Lana said to her twin. "Weren't you nervous?"

Lola scoffed. "Of course not. It wasn't the first time I've performed in front of a large audience and it won't be the last. Why? You're not getting scared, are you?"

"No!" Lana said a touch defensively at first, but then she rubbed her arm a bit nervously. "...maybe...there's a lot of people out there and it is kinda scary."

"Don't be silly." Lola said. "You performed in front of people before. You posed as me for that pageant that one time. And you won too. You'll be fine, trust me."

A small smile came to Lana's face, starting to feel a little better. She went to sit down and wait for her turn as she would be performing after Lincoln went on next in Lynn's place. And since his act was going to be a lot scarier than hers, she hoped that seeing him go up there and face his fears would help her own. At least she hoped he would face his fears. If he couldn't do his act, that meant she'd be up next and she definitely wasn't ready just yet.

Lincoln heard Lori addressing the crowd again and stepped over to the side of the field. The orbs floating over head began to shut out the natural light they had been filtering, leaving most of the area dark save for a single spot of light shining on Lori. The teen went on for a moment about a presenting the audience with a circus classic before a second spot of light illuminated the young boy, wearing a red unitard that was still a little loose in some areas. Lincoln froze up for a moment, but then slowly began to walk out there with the light following him. He looked up and gave a modest wave to the countless people watching him as he approached a tall steel pole that was standing on one end of the field.

"Just don't look down." He whispered to himself. "Go nice and slow and do not look down."

He began to climb up a ladder on the side of the pole. It led up to a platform where a wire ran across the field to the another platform. The wire was thick, but not enough for him to believe that it could hold the width of his feet. And the distance from one platform to the other seemed much longer than it actually was to the preteen. Even without looking down, he became filled with fear as he stood on the first platform. His legs suddenly felt like they were made of stone and he stood there, frozen. It took all of his willpower to finally take his first step towards the edge where the wire was attached. But the next step was much more difficult and he froze again once his foot was set down on wire.

Time seemed to slow to a stop for Lincoln as struggled to keep moving forward. A little voice in the back of his head kept screaming at him that this was a terrible idea. It told him he'd fall and break all of his bones. That he couldn't do this. He could _never_ do anything like this! And he agreed with the voice too. At least until he heard Lori addressing the audience again.

"Looks like he's got a little stage fright, folks. This is his first time performing in front of so many people like this. Think we can give him a little encouragement?"

The sound of cheering began to sound from the bleachers. Words of encouragement could be heard over the music as its volume was temporarily lowered. Some people clapped for him, some of them doing so more enthusiastically than others. Lincoln knew that they were only trying to help, but if he were to be honest, it was only making it more difficult. All it did was remind him of the pressure he was under to go through with this. If he proceeded, he might fall and the act would be a flop. But if he chickened out, he'd disappoint all of the people watching him, not to mention Luan.

Luan...disappointing her would be just too much for him to bear. Even if backing out of this act wouldn't result in people asking for a refund, he'd still feel guilty about it. Too much time and effort went into preparing all of this and he didn't want to let any of it go to waste. So he hadn't practiced this routine like Lynn had done day after day, big deal! There were paying customers who were not only watching and waiting for him to walk, but they were cheering him on too!

More importantly, his big sister was counting on him.

Taking a slow, deep breath and steeling his nerves, Lincoln faced the challenge before him again with renewed confidence. He stood up straight and held his arms out, keeping his hands open with the palms facing downward. Slowly moving his other leg forward, he got a feel for things, maintaining his balance as he fully stepped onto the wire. The sound of applause sounded all around him, but he drowned it out, repeating a self-encouraging mantra over and over in his head.

 _'You're just walking on a balance beam. All you have to do is move in a straight line one step at a time.'_

Lincoln kept going, his movements slow and steady. He kept his eyes locked on the platform in front of him, not even bothering to think of how far away it was. Distance wasn't important, balance was. Step by step he progressed across the wire, occasionally wobbling a teenie-tiny bit as he took a step. Before he knew it, he had reached the other side. The moment his foot was on the platform he looked back at the wire, a mild sense of disbelief washing over him. But once he accepted his accomplishment, he thrust his fists in the air, hearing the crowd applauding his performance.

After taking a moment to savor the attention, Lincoln went to descend back down onto solid ground. As he took the first step down the ladder, he waved to the crowd and received a little more applause in return. With a wide smile, he blew them a kiss with one hand. Then he blew a second with his other hand. And then he blew another big one using both hands in a wide sweeping gesture.

That last action had cost him his balance in the process. The next thing he knew, he was falling...

 **To Be Continued...**


	3. Part 3

**Cirque du Loud part 3**

The sudden shift in his own body weight startled Lincoln. He went to grab for the platform's edge or one of the ladder's rungs, but was unable to reach them as he fell backwards. A collective gasp came from everyone as Lincoln began to fall. Fear began to knot up his stomach as he whimpered and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, he felt light pressure all over different parts of his body. Opening his eyes again, he saw his outfit was inflating as though made up of several balloons. By the time he neared the ground his suit was so large that his head looked tiny in comparison. He landed, hitting the ground with enough force to bounce up a little, but he remained unharmed. Frightened, yes, absolutely, but not hurt in the least.

Lori ran over to him, a panicked look in her eyes. She crouched down and checked on him, needing a moment to find his head sticking out of the air-filled masses of fabric. Once she did, she opened the main release valve, the uniform beginning to shrink back to normal as all of the air flowed out of it. Lincoln felt the ground beneath him again after a few moments and sat up, Lori still looking very worried.

"I'm okay." He told her. "Nearly wet my pants, but I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" She asked, starting to look him over more thoroughly now that the outfit wasn't in the way. "You don't feel any pain at all? Didn't bump your head when you landed?"

Lincoln nodded and started to get up. Lori took his hands and helped him, watching closely to make absolutely sure that he didn't seem to be having any trouble. After she was finally convinced, she let out a sigh of relief and turned to face the silent audience.

"He's alright everybody!" She announced, gesturing to Lincoln who waved to them again. He felt Lori put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly. "Never, _ever_ , scare me like that again. Got it?" she said to him through a false smile and clenched teeth.

"Got it." Lincoln said before heading back to the rest of his sisters.

Lori walked back out to the center of the field while signaling Luna to start up a musical interlude. The next act would require a little bit of set-up before it could begin. Meanwhile Lincoln arrived in the waiting area and was greeted by his other sisters who either looked very worried like Lori had been or just seemed aggravated with him. He offered them a weak smile before Leni grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"You totes just scared the heck out of us!" She said, releasing him and giving him a stern look. "Be more careful from now on!"

"I second that sentiment." Lisa said. "I would have expected such reckless tomfoolery from Lynn, but not from you, elder brother."

"Sorry." Lincoln told them, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I just got carried away, that's all. I won't let it happen again, I promise."

Lincoln went to sit down, his sisters all either preparing for their upcoming acts or just making themselves comfortable. Lana was sitting down on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. Despite the distraction that Lincoln's sudden fall had created, she still found herself feeling afraid to go out and perform. Sure, Lola had made a good point about it not being any different than when she performed in that pageant, but still...

The sound of the Luna's music dying down caught her attention. There was some more applause and she looked up towards the audience. She gulped audibly and her gaze roamed over the bleachers. There were just so many of them out there. It was the thought of all of those eyes watching her that was really messing with her at the moment. She really wished she could have stuck with her gator wrestling idea. At least then she'd have to keep her focus on the large reptile and could shut out the people watching her entirely.

With a sigh, Lana got up on her feet again. She was on any moment now. Chunk was going to be bringing out Geo, Cliff, Walt and Charles. When he did, Lana was going to have to face her stage fright. She just really hoped she wouldn't choke.

Lana saw Chunk carrying the pets over. Walt was in his cage, Geo in his hamster-ball and both Cliff and Charles were on leashes. It was time for her to step into the spotlight. But as she took her first step out, she felt a hand taking one of her own. When she turned to see who it was, she found her twin beside her, their eyes meeting.

"Hey, don't worry about it so much. You're going to just fine." Lola said confidently.

"You really think so?" Lana asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"No. I know so. You're my twin. That means you're just as amazing as I am. No excuses. Now go out there and dazzle them!"

Lola gave her a quick hug and then let Lana go. She saw a bit of pep in her twin sister's step and went to sit down and enjoy the show, after silently patting herself on the back for helping Lana out again.

As Lana ran out towards where the pets had been brought, she saw her mother and father walking towards where the other Loud kids were gathered. The two adults were going to check in on Lincoln, as well as talk to him about what had just happened. They saw her and gave her a smile and a wave, Lynn Sr. following his up with a pair of thumbs up. Lana waved back at them, feeling a surge of confidence knowing she had their support as well.

Once Lana reached her spot out in the field amongst the pets, Lori addressed the crowd once again. Many people were curious as to just what was to come while some had managed to guess by seeing the animals along with the setup Chunk had brought out. From the looks of things, there was a series of connected pieces of PVC pipe arranged into two parallel sets. These made up a track of sorts that went around the area where Lana was with the pets. And it also led to three separate spots, two of which had an empty pet carrier.

"And now, we have a special animal act for you all!" Lori announced, gesturing to Lana and the pets. "My younger sister has trained our pets to perform some very unique tricks! And to ensure that each and every one of you has a great view, we've set up a screen to show you a live feed of the action up close!"

Lori then gestured up to the scoreboard that had been covered by a large white tarp. A projector that Luan had set up began showing a close up of Lana and the pets, as shot by Chunk who had Luan's video camera. The sight of herself up on a large screen renewed Lana's stage fright, but she shook it off before it could make her freeze up. She just remembered what Lola had said to her and got ready to get her part of the show on the road.

"Lana." Lori said, kneeling down and holding the microphone between herself and the younger blonde. "Would you like to tell everyone what you have in store for them today?"

"Oh, um, I...I, uhh..." Lana nervously began, not having expected Lori to make her talk to the audience. "I'm going to have our pet hamster, Geo, unlock the other three pets from their carriers. And then I'm going to have them do some fun tricks after that."

"Interesting, and how will Geo the hamster know what to do?" Lori asked.

"Oh, that's easy. I taught him to follow commands. It was easier than when I potty-trained him." Lana answered.

A chorus of laughter came from the people in the audience. Lana, who hadn't intended to make them laugh, was momentarily confused by it and looked around at them all before forcing a smile herself. Oddly enough, hearing it sort of help put her more at ease. The positive response to her statement further boosting her confidence a little.

Lori stepped aside to allow Lana the full attention of their audience. Luna began playing a lively yet fast-paced tune for Lana, cuing her to start. Not missing a beat, Lana took Cliff and Charles by their leashes in one hand and carrying Walt in his birdcage with the other. She set Walt down first and then put Cliff into his carrier, leading Charles to his own afterwards. As she shut them inside, she used a small padlock to secure their doors, one already on the little door to Walt's cage. And Chunk kept the camera on her the entire time, zooming in to show Lana give the locks a little tug as she put them into place, ensuring that they were locked.

With the other three pets in their places, Lana returned to Geo, the hamster sitting in his ball patiently. As Lana neared, he perked up, his little eyes on the girl. Lana stopped not too far from him and knelt down, gesturing for him to come over to her. He began moving in her direction, Lana picking him up as he got close enough. She set him on a closed end of the PVC pipe track, the hamster ball just wide enough to sit on it.

"Okay Geo, follow Mama!" Lana instructed the little mammal.

Lana led Geo down the track until they reached an intersection which had three separate directions, each leading to one of the other pets. Geo came to a stop, his ball resting in the middle of the junction as he awaited Lana's next order.

"Go get cliff, Geo! Go and let Cliff out!" Lana told him, pointing towards the carrier with the family's cat.

Geo began moving again, heading straight ahead and towards where Cliff was waiting. The track began to slope downwards a little, eventually leading down to the ground. The hamster slowed down a little and began to roll down the ramp, coming to a stop as he touched the ground. From there, he got out of his hamster ball and scurried over to Cliff's carrier. A key had been left on the ground which he picked up in his mouth. Then he climbed up onto the door to the carrier and used his teeth and paws to put the key in the padlock and open it.

The audience applauded again as Cliff exited his carrier, the cat stretching before joining in the routine. Geo returned to his ball under Lana's instruction, followed by Cliff who jumped on top of it once the hamster was back inside. Cliff began to walk on top of the ball, guiding it off of the track and towards Charles. The dog let out a happy bark as his furry companions neared, Cliff hopping off of the ball to allow Geo to get out again. Geo quickly set Charles free just as he had done with Cliff before going back to his ball. Cliff batted it towards Charles, who lowered his head and successfully lifted Geo's ball back up, setting it onto the track again. This prompted further clapping from the bleachers as Geo rolled his ball back towards the intersection, crossing over the path he had taken previously in order to head for Walt's cage.

Meanwhile, back with the other Louds, the parents were looking over Lynn. The teen had begun to look more unwell than before, something that was concerning them quite a bit. Suddenly, Lynn sat up and rushed off, the sound of wretching coming from that direction. Rita went after her to make sure she'd be okay and Lynn Sr. went to get the unwell girl a bottle of water. And as he made his way out, he turned to look at Lana and the pets. By this point, Walt had been let out of his cage and was currently flying through a hoop as Lana tossed it up into the air. Then Lana called over Cliff and had him lie on his back, setting the hoop over him.

"Spin the hoop, Cliff!" Lana ordered.

The cat did as told, using all four of his paws to start spinning the hoop sideways. Lana snapped her fingers and Cliff tossed it up into the air a little, catching it with ease and continuing to spin it more. This action was repeated a few more times, with Walt flying throught the hoop each time it was tossed upwards. And while those two were busy, Lana picked up Geo's hamster ball and balanced it on Charles's nose. The dog slowly stood up on his hind legs, maintaining the balance and began to hop forward, earning a new wave of applause from the audience.

Lynn Sr. stopped to keep watching his little girl's act. It warmed his heart a little to see her not only doing so well but also enjoying herself too. Lana was so wrapped up in what she was doing that it wouldn't surprise him if she had somehow completely forgotten about the massive crowd that was watching her. After watching for a few more moments he remembered he was suppossed to be getting water for Lynn jr. and hurried on his way. As he neared the concessions stand he had left behind, he found that a small line had begun to form in his absence.

"Oh dang!" he muttered. "Sorry about that everybody! I just had to take care of something, but I'm here and ready to serve!"

He took out his phone and sent a quick text as he rushed over. Once behind the stand, he put on his apron and a pair of plastic food service gloves. A minute later Leni came over and he gave her the water he had been getting for Lynn. The teen brought the bottle back over to her sister who greedily guzzled it down, getting a stern look from her mother as she did so.

"Sweetie, slow down!" Rita advised. "You shouldn't drink so fast when your stomach isn't feeling well! Not to mention that you could choke!"

Lynn let out a gasp as she finished up the water, crumpling the bottle up and tossing it aside.

"I'm fine, Mom." she said, standing up and starting to stretch. "I just really needed to hydrate."

"Uh-huh, and just what are you doing now?" Rita asked.

"Getting ready for my act. Linc may have managed to do the high-wire, but he won't be able to pull off my daredevil run." Lynn said in response while doing a few lunges.

"Well I think you should keep resting, just to be safe. I'm sure that your brother will do just fine."

"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that, Mom. Linc doesn't have the skills I do when it comes to bike stunts. He'll definitely fail. I have to be the one to ride through the run."

Rita sighed. Her daughters could just be so stubborn sometimes, especially Lynn. She'd need to try and find a way to compromise with her daughter in the limited time that was left before the daredevil run. Otherwise Lynn would definitely rush out there and go through the course that had been set up for her. She could tell just by looking at it that Lynn did have a point though. It looked like something that wasn't exactly within Lincoln's abilities. He wouldn't do anywhere near as well as his athletic older sister could. Not unless Lynn could guide him through it, step by step.

"Hmm, that actually just might work." The mother of eleven muttered to herself.

After taking a moment to think through her new idea a bit more, Rita tried talking to Lynn again about her act. She called Lincoln over as well so he could let her know whether or not he was up for it. And to Rita's delight, he agreed with her suggestion.

With that settled, Rita stepped over to take in the end of Lana's act. The youngster was finishing things up with a special dance number she had put together featuring Charles and Cliff. And not the usual cutesy dancing that one could find cats and dogs doing in internet videos either where the pets hop around on their hind legs. Lana had taught the two larger pets a small variety of different dance steps, all of which they could do on command like any other trick. She had them do four-legged versions of line dancing, the tango, the samba, and even a little moonwalking, with Luna changing the music accordingly each time.

Lana's act came to an end and was met with hearty cheers and applause. The girl took a bow, the pets following suit before they all ran off of the field. Lola greeted her twin when she got back to the waiting area and gave her a congratulatory hug.

"I told you that you were amazing!" She praised her slightly older sister. "I bet you feel a little silly that you were so worried now, don't you?"

"A little." Lana admitted. "But I feel kinda disappointed that it's already over too. I wish I could go back out there and do more with the pets!"

"Yeah, well maybe next time, squirt." Lynn said, now wearing her bicycle gear and helmet. "My act is up next and it's my time to shine."

"So you're feeling better now?" Lana asked.

Lynn nodded and smiled. "Loads better. I barfed a little while ago."

"Cool!" Lana commented.

"Not as cool as what you're about to see out there." Lynn said. "Make sure you get a good spot to watch the awesomeness."

Lynn spotted Lincoln wheeling her bike over. She fell into step beside him and the two proceeded to the edge of the field. Lincoln hopped on and Lynn took her place behind him, standing on a pair of steel bike pegs that had been attached to the rear wheel. They waited for Lori to give their cue and then Lincoln pedaled out, going past their mother who looked suddenly surprised for all of a moment. But that surprise quickly changed to an unamused look as she crossed her arms.

"That isn't what I meant when I told you to help your brother!" She called to them as they got further away.

The brother and sister rode out to the beginning point of the daredevil run. They went up a small ramp that led to a small platform where they stopped until the time came for them to start. For the most part the run was exactly as Lynn had wanted it to be, minus the dangerous elements which Lincoln had switched out in favor of other things. The whole thing was still pretty intimidating to him though, mostly because of the new twist that Lynn had come up with. But he could at least tell himself that it wouldn't be as bad as that fall he took earlier.

"Next up for your entertainment, we present to you a daring feat of skill and cooperation!" Lori informed the crowd. "Two kids, one bike and a tricky course before them. My sister will guide our brother through the course while he steers the bicycle... _blindfolded_."

Lynn took out a long strip of cloth and tied it around Lincoln's face, covering his eyes. She pulled it tight to secure the knot and then let go, putting her hands on his shoulders while she stood on the bike pegs for a better look of what was ahead of them. Lincoln, now with his vision cut off, felt more nervous than before, but he just reminded himself of how well he did on the high-wire. Plus he had Lynn to guide the way. He may not have had a clue about what he was about to do, but he knew that she knew her stuff in this regard. All he had to do was follow her orders to the letter straight until the end.

"Okay Linc, slowly wheel over to the left a little and straighten the bike out. Then on my signal, pedal forward and just keep your balance." Lynn instructed.

Lincoln did as told and cautiously wheeled to the left, stopping and positioning them so they were set to go. He tried to visualize the course in his mind's eye, recalling each part of it from memory. First up on Lynn's original plan was crossing the rope to the second platform. Fortunately that had been switched to a narrow board at the request of their parents, so it wouldn't be as difficult for Lincoln to pull off. But the next part would be the same. He'd have to bunny hop the bike across a series of smaller platforms before he could move onto the no longer flaming set of hoops he would need to jump through.

He suddenly felt someone knocking their fist on his helmet. Lynn was signaling him to move. The run had started. Lincoln, after a short and mild panic, began to pedal forwards. He found it a little more difficult to maintain balance without being able to see, but he was more than able to manage. For a moment he tried to recall just how far he'd need to go before the next platform, but cleared the thought from his mind. He just had to keep moving until Lynn told him what to do next. She knew what to do and when to do it, he just had to pedal and turn when necessary.

Keeping a fair speed across the board, Lincoln soon felt Lynn's weight shifting as she adjusted herself for the next phase. Lincoln also made ready to lean back onto the bike's rear wheel, remembering Lynn's instructions on how to pull of the trick. First he'd need to shift his own weight back a little. That would be easy thanks to Lynn's weight added onto his. Next he'd pull up on the handle bars, rearing the bike up and finally he'd need to pull on the handlebars with his arms while pushing down on the bike pedals with his legs to lift the back tire off the ground.

He really hoped it was as easy as Lynn had made it look when he watched her practice during the week.

"Now Lincoln!" Lynn ordered.

Lincoln shifted his weight backwards and pulled on the handle bars. But he moved too far back and nearly cost them their balance. Lynn had anticipated this however and stopped him from knocking them over. Once they were okay, Lynn had him perform the first hop forward. Lincoln did it, part of him expecting that he'd miss the first of the smaller platforms and they'd crash onto the ground. But they made it and not even a moment later Lynn told him to do it again. The boy, slighly less anxious now, repeated the action and again succeeded. And just like the first one, Lynn allowed him no time to wait as she made him bunny hop to the next platform, and then to the next one, and kept him going until at last they reached the other side where a ramp led them down onto the field.

Now back on the ground, Lincoln felt more comfortable with proceeding onwards. Even though he still had no idea where he was going, he knew that the rest wouldn't be as bad. Except for that one part before the end, the one that Lynn had initially planned out to have the swinging blades. Obviously their parents had shot that down without even a moment's hesitation, but Lincoln still found it to be the trickiest part of the run since it he considered it the most unpredictable, especially so now due to his lack of sight.

"Okay Linc, first hoop is coming up. Once we get through it we need to go to the right." Lynn told him.

Lincoln nodded and kept riding forward. He felt the front of the bike moving up as they reached the jump and then went through the air. After a few seconds of weightlessness, they touched down on the other side and Lincoln turned to pedal to the right, just as Lynn had instructed. She had to correct him though as he turned to much and took them off course, but only by a little.

They got to the next jump sooner than Lincoln would've guessed. This one took them through two slightly smaller hoops, but not so much smaller that it was difficult to get through them. The next set however was three hoops that were just had a large enough diameter to fit the bike and its two riders. Lynn guided Lincoln towards it and the moment they reached the jump, she had him duck down and then did the same herself. Lincoln could swear that he felt something scrape across the top of his helmet as they went through the final set of hoops, but paid it no mind. That part was over with. Now it was time for the part he was most concerned with.

"Get ready little bro." Lynn said. "We have to get the timing on this right. So when I tell you to go left or right, do it immediately. And expect me to tell you to turn again in the next second, okay?"

"Y-yeah, got it." Lincoln weakly replied, feeling his mouth going a little dry. "I just really hope I don't screw this up."

"Hey, you're gonna do great. I beleive in you. You can do thi...right!"

Lincoln, despite being caught off guard, quickly veered to the right, feeling something whoosh past them. He was very grateful for the fact that his parents had forbade the blades. But he still had to acknowledge that the sandbags that had taken their place were still a hazard. Each of them was no more than a few pounds, but he still didn't want to get hit by them. And he had to take into account that Lynn was with him and that she could just as easily be hit if he didn't get out of the way in time.

"Right again!" Lynn ordered.

This time Lincoln was more prepared for it. Again he veered to the right before returning to the path he had to follow. This wasn't as bad as he had expected, but he knew better than to let himself get overconfident. They still had a ways to go before they were in the clear. Lynn continued to guide him, telling him to go one way or the other every few seconds. Left, right, left, left, right, left, right, left, left and left once more. Lincoln had felt the bags whoosh by him nearly each and every time, a couple of them even passed by his face.

"Awesome job, Linky!" She praised him after one last narrow escape from the final sandbag. "We just got one more big jump to do, then we're done. Start turning around and start pedaling as fast as you can when I say so."

"Thank goodness." Lincoln whispered, mainly to himself. He wasn't sure just how much more of this he could take. Not seeing anything around him while racing around was terrifying!

Lincoln kept turning until Lynn let him know they were facing the right direction. Then she gave the order and he started to pedal like crazy, speeding towards a jump that would take them over a large pool. Not one with piranhas, or any other living creature for that matter. Just one filled with gallons of water and lots of ice. Not anything enjoyable to land in, but definitely the safer option.

The two Louds reached the ramp and Lincoln put one last burst of effort into pedaling. The bike shot up into the air, arcing over the pool. Lincoln silently prayed that they would make it across, his hands gripping the handle bars until his knuckles turned white. But then something unexpected occurred. Lynn made him let go of the handle bars and the next thing he knew, both of them were no longer on the bike. Lincoln squirmed in fright, but Lynn wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close as they fell...for all of two seconds before their feet connected with something solid.

Just as confusion began to set in, Lincoln felt the blindfold being removed. As his vision became unhindered, he found that they were on a small platform that was standing in the middle of the pool. The bike had flown off and landed on a queen sized mattress that Chunk had dragged out while Lynn and Lincoln had been riding through the course. Lincoln looked to Lynn, one eyebrow quirking up in question.

"Where did this come from?" He asked, gesturing to the platform they were standing on. "I don't remember this part in any of the practice runs you did."

"Last minute change I thought up yesterday." Lynn answered. "Luna had Chunk put it together. I thought it would be a nice finish to the course. And it looks like the crowd likes it too. Take a bow little brother. You earned it."

 **To be concluded...**


	4. Part 4

**Cieque du Loud part 4**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story.

Lincoln smiled and took Lynn's hand as they stood before the applauding crowd. The two gave a tandem bow before they left the field, crossing a wooden beam that led across the pool from their platform to another with a ladder. They climbed down and ran back to join the rest of their family, finding their mother waiting for them. She was tapping her foot and giving the two of them a stern look that said 'you better have a good explanation for what you did.' Something that would have proven more effective had she not currently been wearing a baggy pair of pink clown pants with violet polka dots on them.

"When I asked you to help your brother with the act, I meant you should use a radio set so you could talk him through it. Not to blindfold him and play backseat driver!"

"Wait, so I _didn't_ have to wear the blindfold?" Lincoln asked. "Lynn!"

"What? It worked out, didn't it?" the girl replied in her defense. "Besides, Mom never specifically said what to do. She just told me to help you out. And I did."

Rita let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We'll talk about this after the show. But for now I want you to go and lay down again, young lady. You're looking a little green."

"Pfft, I'm fine." Lynn said. "I don't need to lay down. In fact, I think I'll get a little calisthenics in before I get to be fired out of the cannon."

"I wasn't making a suggestion." Rita firmly stated. "I'm telling you to go and lay down. Now! And I think to be safe, we should forget about the cannon."

"But..."

"That isn't up for debate. Now march!"

The mother thrust her arm out and pointed towards the waiting area. Lynn grumbled and did as told, dragging her feet as she went. Lincoln was able to relate to her mood, albeit for a different reason. When she had joined him for the daredevil run, he had silently hoped that she'd be able to do the human cannonball as well. But now that it was definitely not happening, it seemed like he would be going through with it after all. That is unless someone else volunteered to take his place. And he had a sneaking suspicion that told him that wasn't about to happen. There was a better chance that Luan would just agree to cancel the human cannonball altogether. And she had used her own money to rent the thing, taking it directly out of her April Fool's savings. Not to mention that it had been one of the more prominent things featured when they had advertised the circus in the first place.

 _'Thanks for being so insistent on that, Lynn .'_ The boy silently complained.

Lincoln went to join his sisters and take a well earned rest. He would need it for the upcoming finale. There was only Luan's clown act and Lisa's magic act left before then. Which reminded him, Lynn was supposed to be part of Lisa's act too. It looked like he'd have to substitute for her there as well.

 _'Maybe if I'm lucky, Lisa will make me disappear and I won't be around for them to fire me from the cannon.'_ He joked to himself, sitting down in a folding chair and making himself comfortable. _'Or better yet, maybe she could just make the cannon disappear. That would be cool. Not to mention a lot less for me to worry about.'_

He continued to relax, closing his eyes and let his mind wander on the subject of Lisa's act. He had been very surprised to hear her say she wished to do that. All of them had been surprised by it. With her dedication to science, none of them would have guessed she'd dabble in something like pulling a rabbit out of her hat. But she had insisted on it since it would be the most sensible thing to do. That and she could use science and technology to pull of tricks that would make even professional magicians gape in awe. The thought of getting to participate in something like that actually got Lincoln a little bit excited. Although he had no idea what to expect since Lisa had kept most of it secret from the start, and that was slightly worrying. Regardless of that though, it would definitely be a nice change from the more dangerous stuff he'd been doing thus far.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He cracked one eye open and found Luan standing beside him, a wide yet nervous smile on her face. It was pretty obvious to him that something was up.

"Everything okay, Luan?" he asked, opening both eyes and sitting up a bit.

"Well, yes and no." Luan answered. "Dad is making lots of money right now selling his food to customers. But...he's super busy. There are even people walking in off of the streets to try his stuff. So he won't be able to participate in the family clown routine I put together. You wouldn't mind taking his place, would you?"

"Sure, I'll do it." Lincoln answered with not even a moment's hesitation.

"Really?" She said, her face lighting up. "Oh, thank you Lincoln! I'll have Leni whip up something for you real quick to wear. Luckily I brought all my clowning supplies with me, so it shouldn't take long. But to be safe, I asked Luna to do another interlude to buy us a bit of time. Lisa even said she'd have a few of her little flying orb things do some kind of light show to go with it."

"That's good, we should have plenty of time. I remember a lot of your routine from when you practiced it during the week, but run me through it anyway, just to be sure." Lincoln said.

"Absolutely! But first..." Luan pulled him into a quick hug, squeezing him tight. "Thanks again. I know I've asked a lot from you today. I really appreciate you helping out at the last minute again."

"Hey, it's no problem. After doing two of Lynn's acts I'd love to just _clown around_ for a bit."

Luan giggled. "Good one!"

The two siblings began to go over the clown act while Luna entertained the audience with some hard rock. Lisa accompanied the music with her flying orbs, each of them glowing one of the primary colors. They shot through the air, arcs of light trailing behind them as they whirled around in loops or spirals, earning many 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the crowd.

A short while later, after Luna had played a few more songs, Lincoln was ready to go. Leni had expertly sewn together some orange fabric to make a pair of baggy clown pants for him to wear, which needed to be held up with suspenders. She had gotten a little creative and added a selection of patches cut from other colors of cloth leftover from when she had made everyone else's outfits. Lincoln's bright orange pants were adorned with blues and greens and purples, along with some red, yellow, pink and black. He wore one of his normal orange shirts to go with them and then Luan did his make up for him and stuck a big, red clown nose over his real one to complete the look.

"I look ridiculous." He said, taking a look at himself in the mirror.

"Perfect!" Luan said, grabbing his arm while carrying a large duffel bag in the other. "Then it's time to make em laugh!"

She and Lincoln rushed out to begin their performance, followed by Rita who was pushing Lily in a stroller. Luna cut the music temporarily and Lisa's orbs returned to their positions as the audience turned their attention back to the field. During the interlude, Chunk had brought out a set, including pieces of furniture, that strongly resembled the Loud's living room back in their house. Chunk was also using the camera again, so that the audience could get a better view of them if they so wished.

Lincoln hopped onto the couch and turned on a prop television. It was really just a computer monitor hooked up to a external harddrive and powered by a small, solar powered generator. But it looked the part, including having a few different 'channels' which were nothing more than GIFs on a slideshow that could be changed via remote. The 'television' currently showed a crudely drawn image of a man's body wearing a suit, with a donkey head where a human head should have been. Lincoln inconspicuously changed the image, now showing a similar one, only the body was wider and had an elephant's head in place of the donkey's.

"Heya little bro, what are you watching?" Luan asked, setting down her bag and hopping onto the couch beside him.

"Political debate." Lincoln answered, getting a good number of laughs from the crowd.

Luan made a face. "Ugh, talk about boring! Let's watch something more practical. There's a cooking show on right now that is showing new pie recipes."

"Ooh, that does sound interesting!" Lincoln commented, changing the 'channel'.

"You betcha! I'm hoping to learn how to make something fancy so I can give it to a boy I like at clown school. Nothing says 'hey, I like you' like a fresh baked good in the face!"

"Um, wouldn't it be better if you just let him eat it instead?"

"Well duh." Luan said, rolling her eyes. "That's the idea! Why else would I smash a pie onto someone's pie hole?"

Lincoln shrugged. "I dunno. It seems like a waste of food to me."

"Why so serious, little bro?" Luan asked. "Is something bothering you?"

"Not really, although...I have been thinking about clown school a lot lately..."

"What's that about clown school?" Rita asked, strolling Lily over.

The sight of Lily in her little clown outfit began melting the hearts of many in the audience. Rita took Lily out of the stroller and set her down, the little clown starting to walk around, giggling and clapping merrily as her shoes squeaked. Chunk zoomed in on her for a moment, Lily waving at him and further winning over the onlooking crowd.

After allowing the people to continue adoring Lily a few moments longer, Chunk returned focus to the other Louds. Rita stepped over to her only son and sat beside him while Luan went to keep tabs on Lily. The mother put her hand on Lincoln's shoulder and givng him a soft squeeze.

"What's the matter, sweetie? Having trouble with your classes?"

"No. It's not that." Lincoln answered. "I...I've just been getting bored with classes lately."

"Oh, I get it." Luan said, turning over to look at him. "The material is pretty tame sometimes. It's easy to feel like you're stuck further back than you should be. No worries though, I have just the solution. We just need to expand your horizons a little. Maybe try out some new props. Check out this one that I got the other day!"

Luan pulled an object from her pocket to show off. It was roughly six inches long and torpedo shaped. One end was rounded off and the other flat, as though it had been cut. Around the middle was a band of paper with a brand name written across it. Rita narrowed her eyes upon seeing the item and put her hands on her hips as she scowled disapprovingly.

"Young lady. Is that a cigar?!"

"No Mom, it's just a prop. It's really a lighter. See?" Luan said, pressing on the rounded end and making a small flame spark from the other.

"Well I don't care if it's real or not. I don't like you having something like that! I don't want to see that anymore!"

"Oh...okay then. Hang on a sec." Luan said.

Luan walked over to the large duffel bag and began to dig through it. After a moment she pulled out a large foil pie tin with a plastic cover, housing a banana cream pie. She removed the cover and then firmly planted the dessert on her mother's face, covering it entirely.

"There you go. Problem solved." the teenager said, grinning widely.

Rita wiped away the pie that was covering her mouth. "Much better. Thank you."

A series of laughs came come the audience. Some of them only chuckled while others burst out into hearty chortles or guffaws. Rita cleaned off the rest of her face while the laughter died down and then went over to Luan's duffel bag and began pulling out half a dozen objects that looked like cartoon bombs. She gathered them all up in her arms and then took a position just a short distance from her teenage daughter.

"Here, how about you watch the new juggling act your sister and I have been practicing? Maybe that will help you feel the joy of clowning again."

"But..." Lincoln began.

"No buts, just watch." Rita told him. "You'll enjoy what you see."

Rita tossed the first bomb towards Luan, who caught it with ease. The teen juggled it to her other hand while her mother threw the second one at her. As the third was flying through the air, Luan readied to catch it while juggling the other two with one hand. She began to juggle her three bombs and Rita did the same with her own. Then they began to juggle all six between them for a short while, maintaining perfect rhythm.

Lincoln, and the audience, watched as the juggling continued until Rita was the one juggling all six bombs. She tossed one back to Luan, who used her cigar-lighter to light the fuse. Luan then returned it to her mother and caught the next one to light up. Eventually Rita was juggling all six of them with their fuses burning away. As the first one was about to blow, Rita tossed it as high into the air as she could, the bomb going off as it reached the apex. And when it exploded, a multi-color burst of light spread out in all directions, the sight making the audience gasp in awe.

The rest of the bombs went out with similar bangs in quick succession. Four additional bursts of colorful lights dazzled the crowd and Rita then tossed the final one up...only for it to fall back down to her with it's fuse still burning. It blew just as it fell back into her open hands...resulting in blue dye coating her entire face, neck, upper body and arms.

"Oopsie." Rita said with a giggle. "Looks like I just _blue_ it big time!"

"Good one, Mom!" Luan laughed along with the audience. " Here let me help you wash off."

Luan took a spray bottle of seltzer out of her bag and aimed at her mother. She began to shoot the liquid at her, dousing her heavily and leaving her drenched. And seeing the results of her work, she smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

"Looks like I went a little overboard. I'll get you a towel." She said, passing the seltzer to Lily. "Here, hold this for me."

The moment Lily had her tiny hands on the bottle, she began to spray her big sister with the remaining seltzer. It had been one of the things Luan had taught her to do for the show, and had proven quite easy to do too. Lily picked it up quickly, enjoying how fun it was. The little clown was letting out giggles like crazy as she soaked her big sister. And the crowd was dying from the combination of cuteness and hilarity they were seeing.

Lincoln went over to Luan's bag to find towels for his mother and sister. As he dug through it, he tossed out various other things, all of which were comedy related items. After going through nearly a dozen items, he found a couple towels. He then went to bring them to Rita and Luan, but overlooked a second bottle of seltzer that he had taken out during his search. His foot came down on the bottle and he began to sway midstep and fell backwards, landing rump-first onto a large and fully inflated whoopie cushion. The sound the rubber object made blasting throughout the area.

"Uh-oh." Lily said, pointing to her big brother. "Poo-poo."

Lily walked over to the big bag and reached into it. She took out a comically oversized diaper and set it down by Lincoln. Next she took out a large bottle of baby powder, the thing almost as big as she was. She let it drop next to her brother as well, the contents spurting out of the openings on the cap and coating Lincoln entirely.

A new collective roar of laughter came from the audience, many people either crossing an arm over their stomachs or covering their mouths with one hand, as though trying to contain themselves. The Loud sisters were no different, Lana was rolling on the ground, kicking her legs and Leni had tears in the corners of her eyes, she was laughing so hard. Even Lisa was having trouble maintaining her composure, finding the sight before her so absurd that the corners of her mouth were arcing upwards as the performance continued.

By the time Rita, Luan, Lincoln and Lily finished up their act and returned to the waiting area, they were a complete mess. Each of them had been doused or coated with something in the process of entertaining the crowd and were in need of a change of clothes and a wet washcloth. Lily was the least messy, having only gotten some pie on her face. The result of her own actions as she found a pie in the bag while her mother and older siblings were busy with the act. She managed to get the plastic cover off of it and then pushed her face in, earning another bout of laughter from all who had seen it.

The four clowns cleaned themselves up, Lincoln stepping aside to change back into the unitard he had worn earlier. He went over to Lisa who began to give him the details he'd need to know for the magic act. It was nothing complicated, just instructions on what to do for the tricks he'd be participating in. Mostly it would be Lisa who would do all the work. He'd just stand aside until he was needed for a few feats of wonder towards the end.

There was need for another brief interlude while Chunk took care of the set used in the clown act. The mess they had made also required a little attention, large spots created by cream pies dotted the field in a few places and needed to be wiped up. Then Chunk set up the things Lisa would need for her performance, consisting mainly of a card table with folding legs, the pool that had been at the end of the daredevil run, now emptied of water, a box large enough to hold a child which could be suspended in the air by wires, and a wooden frame with a swinging door that he had to attach to the underside of one of the platforms.

Once everything was set, Lisa walked out to take her place in the middle of the field. She recalled all of her flying orbs, the holographic tent vanishing as they returned to the bag from whence they came. Lisa zipped it shut and kept it by her side as she faced the many people seated on the bleachers. She adjusted the microphone she was wearing and gave it a quick test before she spoke.

"I'm sure that you are all wondering as to the reason behind my actions just now. To put it simply, I do not wish to have anyone be misled into believing that holograms will be responsible for what you are all about to witness. I assure you that each of the marvels that I am about to display are quite real. Furthermore, I also did not wish to have the tent hinder the scene of natural beauty that is about to astound you. Now look above, and prepare to be left in awe..."

Lisa took off her hat and reached inside. She pulled out a large flask containing a dark, shimmering liquid. Then she reached back into her hat again and removed another flask containing a clear liquid. Both of them had a rubber stopper which she removed. Next, Lisa slowly poured the clear liquid from its flask into the one containing the darker fluid. She quickly put the stopper into the flask as the two liquids began to mix. The flask began to shake a little and Lisa counted down the seconds in her head before she removed the stopper again and she ducked down while holding it up as high as she could.

There was a sudden noise, startling many of the people, including Lisa's siblings. It was like the sound of a giant champagne bottle popping open, only much, much louder. A dark pillar rose rapidly from the flask Lisa was holding, shooting straight upwards. It rose up and up until it was as high as the clouds before it burst like a silent firework, a dark cloud covering the sky and blocking out the sun for a few seconds before it cleared again. Some members of the audience began to clap prematurely, thinking that had been the trick. But they soon saw what was really going on when a colorful arc appeared in the sky, just on the opposite side of the sun.

A giant rainbow had appeared. Lisa had created it and left every onlooker with their heads craned back and their eyes wide open. But then, the rainbow began to shimmer and divide. Moments later, two rainbows were visible in sky. Mouths were agape, the hands of children reached out to point at the spectacle and many people scrambled to capture the rarity with their phone cameras.

Lisa allowed them a moment to take in the sight and then applaud. She took out a deck of playing cards and began to shuffle them. Then she divided the deck into two, holding one half in each hand. Holding her arms up in the air, she began to bend the cards enough to make them fly out of her hands. The cards flew up and out, but did not fall to the ground. Instead they all began to change shape, folding themselves into little cranes or butterflies that could actually fly. The little oragami playing cards began to zip around, passing by the people sitting in the bleachers, some of them slowing to hover close by for a moment or two.

While her flying cards entertained the crowd, Lisa began preparing her next trick. She had Chunk bring in a bag of potting soil, a gallon of water and a dozen empty flower pots. Lisa set up the pots in a line on the ground while Chunk cut open the bag of soil. Then Lisa held out her hat and pulled out a magician's wand from inside, which she used to tap against the brim of the hat. The playing cards all flew down towards the little magician and dove into the hat and out of sight. Lisa then reached in again and pulled out a single, giant novelty playing card with the image of a joker on it's face. She folded the card and held it against the opening of her hat while Chunk poured the soil from the bag onto it, letting the soil slide into the hat.

Lisa's actions left many of the onlookers confused. But as the contents of the ten pound bag of soil were completely emptied into the hat, they all realized that something was odd. There was no way all of that soil could fit into the hat. And yet it kept sliding on into it, ounce by ounce until all of it had vanished. Lisa then set the seemingly empty hat onto the table and had Chunk hand her a packet of seeds. She opened it and then took the giant playing card and folded it again, this time making it take the shape of a rectangular block. Setting it down on the ground by the table to use as a step, Lisa emptied the packet of seeds into the hat and then had Chunk add the entire gallon of water. From that point, Lisa swished her wand over her hat and then reached inside with both hands...extracting a full grown zinnias flower from within, soil clinging to it's roots.

Lisa passed the plant to Chunk so he could place it into the first flower pot. Meanwhile, she reached into her hat again to pull out another zinnias flower. The process was repeated over and over until all twelve of the flower pots were filled. Then Lisa reached into her hat again and pulled out a test tube with a light green liquid inside of it. She approached the potted flowers and removed the stopper from her test tube, tilting it over the first plant and allowing a single drop to fall onto it.

The audience watched attentively, eager to see what was to come next. Lisa moved onto the other flowers, giving each of them a drop of the green liquid as well. By the time she was halfway done, the first flower began to grow. And it grew and it grew and it grew until it reached ten times its original size, the sight once more astounding the audience. But it didn't end there. Suddenly, the petals of the flower began to glow and shimmer, creating a radiant beauty that again made people bring up their phones to capture the moment on screen.

Again Lisa allowed the people a moment to take in the spectacles she had created, a small feeling of pride in her chest. The bioluminescent flora had been significantly more difficult to create than the vapor creating solution she had earlier used to achieve the double rainbow. This was primarily due to her having to develop a strain of bioluminescent bacteria that would live in symbiosis with the zinnias flowers she had grown for her trick. And she had yet to get to the best of her planned feats of magic.

Lisa nodded to Chunk who walked off and then returned with Geo in his hamster ball. He set the little critter down and stepped back. Lisa set her hat down on it's side and took out a treat for the hamster. The tiny mammal perked up as he saw the food and began to roll towards it. Lisa waited for him to get close enough and then tossed the treat into her hat, which he more than happily followed. Once Geo had rolled inside the hat, Lisa lifted it up and then took her wand and gave it a little tap on the brim. Suddenly, a swarm of bats flew out of the hat, startling the audience as they flew over their heads and off into the distance. This was followed up by Lisa reaching into the hat and pulling out a long, scaly tail. She set the hat onto the ground and pulled it back, revealing more and more of the animal until at last the head of El Diablo came out of it.

People gasped as they saw the serpent, especially when it quickly coiled around Lisa. El Diablo's tongue flickered out of his mouth, brushing against Lisa's cheek. The young genius however, seemed in no way worried about her current predicament. She simply squeezed one hand through the mighty coils of the snake, the one that was holding her wand. With a quick tap against El Diablo's long body, the serpent suddenly froze. Lisa then shimmied herself out and put her hat in her place. Another tap onto the snake and he began to move again, slithering into the hat, disappearing inch by inch. After he was gone, Lisa reached into her hat and a moment later, extracted Gary the rabbit.

As the audience applauded again, Lisa beckoned Lincoln forward with a wave of her hand. The boy approached her, his excitement and curiosity at their peaks. After witnessing all Lisa had done so far, he couldn't even guess what she had in mind that required his assistance. Although, considering that she had yet to use the box, he had a strong feeling that it was meant for him. He quickly learned his assumption was correct as Lisa gestured for him to enter it.

"For my final trick, I will lock my elder brother inside of this trunk. The trunk shall then be suspended in midair where my strapping assistant Chunk shall proceed to impale the box with many deadly blades." Lisa announced, holding her hat out towards the roadie, who reached in and pulled out a sword. "And to prove that these are indeed real, he shall first use them to slice open these watermelons!"

Lisa tilted her hat over the ground and tapped it with her wand. A watermelon rolled out, which Chunk immediately cleaved in half with his weapon. Lincoln, suddenly less excited, swallowed a lump in his throat. He had not been expecting anything like that. Not after how adamant his parents had been regarding the safety of his sisters with all of their performances. But this was Lisa after all, she no doubt had managed to convince them to allow this, which could only mean that there had to be either a way for him to escape the box, or that there was some other trick that would guarantee his safety. Whichever one it was, he would find out soon enough.

Taking a shaky step forward, Lincoln walked over to the box and stepped inside. It was just barely wide enough for him to stand inside, and the top was a few inches above his head. He'd have very little room to move, making it practically impossible to let anyone believe that the blade wouldn't be close to him once Chunk ran it through the box. For a moment, he nearly chickened out. But he stayed put, reminding himself he could trust his brilliant little sister.

Chunk stepped over to the box and shut it, leaving Lincoln in complete darkness. The box was then locked with a heavy padlock and then slowly hoisted into the air by the wires attached to it and left hanging a couple feet above the ground. Then Chunk took the sword and lifted it up, resting the tip against the front of the box, right in the center. He adjusted the blade so he held it perfectly parallel to the ground and then shoved it through the box, the tip poking through the other side.

The audience looked on silently as Chunk pulled out more swords and used them to first slice through another melon Lisa produced from her hat. Chunk ran the blades through the box at different angles one after another until it seemed that there was no place left for him to continue. Lisa then had Chunk open the box.

Lincoln was not inside.

Lisa stepped over to the pool sitting beneath the platform with the swinging door attached to it. She held her hat out over the pool and tapped it with her wand. Gallons of water began to gush out of the hat, quickly filling the pool to the brim. Lisa then had Chunk climb up to the platform and open the door. When he did, Lincoln fell from the opening, screaming as he plummeted towards the water. Lisa quickly reached into her had again and pulled out an inflatable raft, which broke Lincoln's fall just in time as she pulled it's cord and tossed it onto the water.

A stunned silence reigned over the entire area for all of one second. Then the entire audience burst into a thunderous applause, people cheering and whistling. Some began to stand, clapping as hard as they could. Lisa took a bow, as did Chunk. Lincoln would have too, but he was still a bit disoriented from both the fall and the way he had gone from the box to the door beneath the platform.

Chunk helped Lincoln out of the raft and set him onto solid ground. The audience was still applauding as he and Lisa left the field, only dying down once they had left the sight of the crowd. They were met with more applause once they rejoined their siblings, Lisa basking in the praise they bestowed upon her.

"That was totes amazing, Lisa!" Leni chirped.

"Yeah!" Lana added. "How did you make Lincoln disappear like that?"

"Simple." Lisa replied. "I used the same technology that allowed me to obtain the plethora of various items from my hat. Wormholes."

"Cool!" The dirty twin commented.

"Well I'm just glad that it was all just a trick." Rita said. "I'm not going to lie, I was a bit frightened there for a minute. But it was very impressive, honey. Very good job."

"Thank you Mother. I appreciate your positive feedback." Lisa said. "I put a great amount of effort into achieving that which I needed for my act."

"I can tell. It was so amazing that maybe...we can just skip the part where someone gets fired out of the cannon?" Rita suggested.

"I'm actually with Mom on that." Lincoln said. "It's not like it would compare to what Lisa just did after all. So why not just call it a day?"

Luan shook her head. "No can do. When we advertised the Circus, we mentioned the human cannonball every time. It was on every flyer, on all of the posters and Lori spread the word through social media too. People are going to be expecting it!"

"Well, why don't we just say the cannon, oh I don't know, is broken or something?" Rita asked.

"So you want me to lie my way out of doing something? Is that it Mom?" Luan countered. "Just weasel out of doing something we said we'd do? Out of what is pretty much a promise to entertain a large number of people who _paid_ to see that entertainment?"

Rita hesitated, "Of course I don't want you to do that. It's just, I'm worried about the whole thing. Are you absolutely, one hundred percent certain that your brother will be safe?"

"Rest assured, Mother dear." Lisa said, stepping forward. "Lincoln will be wearing the same Safety-Suit, patent pending, that he wore during the high-wire act. In addition to that, he will be equipped with a parachute, a back-up parachute, and a secondary back-up parachute if necessary."

"And don't forget, he's going to land in a giant pie too!" Luan added. "It'll be a nice, soft landing. No need to worry at all!"

Again the mother hesitated, her mind still holding onto doubt. She turned to face her solitary son, wanting to see how he felt about this. He was clearly nervous about the finale as well, it was in his eyes. But if he had any objections, he didn't voice them. Despite the fact that he was scared, he was intent on going through with it.

"Alright, fine. But I swear, if anything goes wrong, anything at all...I will ground you until you're finished with high school!" Rita warned, wagging her finger at Luan. "Do you understand me, young lady?"

Luan nodded, a solemn look on her face. She allowed her brother a minute to change. Then she turned and began to escort Lincoln back out into the field while Lori announced the finale. At the same time, Chunk had started to wheel out the cannon. It was kept on a wide utility trailer which was hitched up to his van. Lincoln watched anxiously as it was brought into position. It seemed so much larger up close, and the thing was already pretty big to begin with.

 _'It's okay, Lincoln.'_ He told himself. _'Just remember that Lisa not only prepared all of the safety precautions, she's also the one who calculated everything for the trajectory. She's too good at physics to mess up. You'll be perfectly fine. Just put your helmet on, climb inside and it will be over with before you know it.'_

Chunk got out of his van and went to check on the cannon to ensure everything was set. Then he adjusted it so the barrel was aimed according to Lisa's instructions and opened the chamber at the bottom for Lincoln. The boy put on his helmet and walked over to the opening. He reached out with his hands and gripped the edges, but that was as far as he got.

"Luan?" he asked, his voice shaking. "C-could you help me out here? I can't...I can't seem to, heh, to be able to climb in by myself."

"Aw, of course I'll help you out, little brother!" Luan piped up, approaching him from behind. "Hold still."

Luan reared her right leg back and twisted her foot in circles a couple times. Then she booted Lincoln in the rear, giving him the boost he needed to get into the cannon. He grumbled out a somewhat sarcastic 'thanks' and Luan shut the chamber, leaving Lincoln trapped inside. The seconds began to pass by tormentingly slow for the boy, each one crumbling his resolve to go through with it.

Meanwhile, the Loud sisters had all gathered in the field to get a better look at the finale. Lori stepped up to the cannon and pulled out a book of matches. She struck one and reached out to light the fuse. As she did so, she noticed several other hands reaching out as well. Most of her sisters had opted to assist her in lighting it, mainly due to Luan's insistence to do so for comedic affect. Leni, Luna and Lucy all had matches as well, Luan was using her novelty cigar-shaped lighter, the twins were using sparklers and Lisa held out her hat, from which Gary was reaching out with his own match. This got a few good laughs from the people seated in the bleachers, just as Luan had anticipated it would.

Back inside of the cannon, Lincoln was not doing as well. He was completely opposed to the idea of being fired out of the cannon now, regardless of how it would look for him to chicken out at the last second. But there was nothing he could do. The chamber was sealed shut and there was no way they'd hear him no matter how hard he tried to yell to them. They had put a bit of distance between themselves and the cannon, plugging their ears while the seconds kept passing by, each one of them bringing Lincoln closer to when he'd suddenly found himself being sent into the sky.

Lincoln felt a sudden and powerful shift in the cannon around him. Before he could even realize that he was moving, he was already flying out of the mouth and rocketing through the atmosphere, a loud bang announcing his departure. This resulted in all of his sisters being coated in soot from the blast, each of them looking like dark silhouettes. And everyone looked on in awe as he became airborne and vanished into the horizon, a twinkle appearing in the sky behind him.

-The following day-

It had made the news. The circus had done so well that it had been on the front page of the local newspaper as well as in the Detroit Free Press, mainly because of the money that had been raised for the children's hospital. Luan was even approached by the local news channel to talk about the whole thing. That had been just after the circus finished up for the day. The news reporters caught her still in her clown costume. Not that Luan minded it at all. She was beaming with pride at her success, she just couldn't contain it.

 _[I just want to say that this was all thanks to the help I got from my family. My parents, sisters and brother are all a huge part of making this all happen.]_ Luan said into the microphone, her smile going from ear to ear. _[Especially my little brother, he's the real_ star _here!]_

Lincoln watched his older sister laugh at her pun on the television screen for a moment before shutting it off. He was glad that everything worked out so well, he really was. But during the time he was up in the air, he was freaking out big time.

Nothing had gone wrong. Not a single thing. The launch went smoothly, he had no real problems while speeding towards the designated landing area, aside of the sheer terror gripping every fiber of his being. As for the landing, it went just as predicted. The parachute deployed without any trouble, leaving the back-ups unnecessary. And the pie he had landed in was more whipped cream than anything else. Although the sweet dessert did little to ease his state of mind once he was finally back on the ground.

His parents arrived shortly after he had landed, along with most of his sisters. Lincoln had bolted straight into his mother's arms, desperate for the comfort they would bring. He didn't hold back, he let out just how upset he had been through the whole ordeal. His mother hushed him and rubbed his back, his father and sisters looking on with sympathy.

Except for Lynn. She couldn't understand how he didn't _love_ the rush of wind as he soared through the air. She had told him he was lucky he got to experience it. He, still in a slightly hysterical state, had nearly punched her square on the nose. Nearly.

The ride home had been quiet, Rita sitting in the back with him and letting him rest his head against her. Luan, along with Lori and Luna, had all been waiting back at the high school field. Each of them had been surprised to see how upset their little brother was. Luan had taken the front seat, but peeked back at Lincoln nearly every minute. She had wanted to apologize to him when he calmed down a bit, but he had wanted to wash up and lay down the minute they all got home, so she left him be.

Lincoln sighed and got off of the couch. He really hoped that Luan didn't think he was mad at her. It wasn't her fault that he went through that. Going through with it had been as much his choice as anyone else's. He knew he had plenty of opportunities to duck out of it beforehand, he just didn't try to until it was the last possible second. And looking back on the experience, he had to acknowledge that it didn't have to go so smoothly. Not that he'd let that change his mind about never, ever doing it again. He planned to stand his ground on that.

The front door opened and Luan walked in. The brother and sister saw each other and froze in place. Luan seemed a bit hesitant, rubbing her arm and looking down at the floor. And Lincoln was trying to think of what to say to break the odd silence between them.

"Luan..." He started.

"Lincoln..." She simultaneously said.

Again the two stopped, but this time they each broke into a small smile. Then a little laugh as well. Lincoln gestured for his sister to go ahead with what she wanted to say, well aware that the teen had something she wanted to get off of her chest.

"Listen, Lincoln, I'm so sorry about putting you through that yesterday. If I had known it would scare you so badly, I'd never have let you get shot out of the cannon. I can understand it if you're upset with me. But please let me help make up for it."

"You don't need to apologize, Luan." Lincoln said sincerely. "To be honest, I was so freaked out yesterday that I don't think I could have been angry with anyone if I tried. Well, not counting Lynn. She ticked me off just a little."

Luan let out another laugh. "And it was her idea to have the cannon in the first place. I'm not going to lie. It was definitely cool to watch, but I don't think we really needed it. The rest of the acts did well enough by themselves. We might have been able to pull the whole thing off without it."

"Gee, thanks. That really makes me feel better about yesterday." Lincoln joked.

"I know. Sorry, again." Luan said, offering a timid smile. "But like I said, I want to make it up to you. Remember how I said I'd take you out for ice cream as a 'thank you' for all your help? Well, let's make that each weekend for a month. I'll also swing you a little of the money I make after the next birthday party I entertain too. And to top it all off, I have a surprise for you. Come on, our sisters are all waiting for us."

She turned to head back outside, beckoning him to follow. Their nine sisters were all in Vanzilla and waiting for them. Lincoln climbed into the front seat beside Lori and she began to drive them off somewhere. The boy had been tempted to ask, but instead chose to let it remain a suprise.

A short while later they arrived back at the field by Royal Woods High. Most of the circus had been packed up and put away, save for the cannon which was still parked in the field. Lori parked the van and they all got out, heading for the cannon.

"What are we doing here?" Lincoln asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Easy. We're going to let you have a turn with the cannon." Lori explained. "To fire each of us."

"Or all of us at the same time." Luan added. "I can get twenty clowns into a clown car, so getting us all into that thing shouldn't be a problem. So, what do you say, Linc? Want to help me make sure we get my money's worth out of this thing?"

Lincoln stared at them silently, his mind trying to take in what he just heard. He looked at his ten sisters, having a hard time believing that they all agreed to this. And none of them seemed nervous or anything like that. Heck, Lynn looked more eager than anything. If he said no, she'd just try to get someone else to shoot her from the cannon. But despite that, he still felt the need to ask...

"You all really mean it? You're okay with me firing you from the cannon?"

They nodded all at once.

"And I don't need to worry about any consequences afterwards?" he followed up.

The girls collectively shook their heads. Lincoln took another moment to think it through and then decided to take up his sisters' offer. The girls all went to change into one of Lisa's Safety-Suits and put on some parachutes that they had packed into Vanzilla. Lori handed him Lily to hold, the youngest Loud not being among the sisters entering the cannon.

The girls spent the next several minutes getting changed and then following Luan's instructions to enter the cannon. Lincoln had opted to fire them all at once since it would be over with quicker that way. But also because deep down, part of him wanted to see it happen. By the time they had all gotten into the cannon, it could only be described as a can of sardines.

"Dude! Who's knee is in my eye?" Luna asked.

"I don't know, but whoever is on my back needs to move their elbow!" Lori snipped.

"Sorry, I think that those are both me." Luan said. "Let me readjust for a second. Oops! Did I just hit your face with my foot Lana? Sorry!"

"It's okay, that wasn't me. You got Lola." Lana said.

"And you're so very lucky that I can't move right now." Lola muttered.

"Okay, I'm closing it now." Lincoln told them. "Everyone all set in there?"

"We're all good, little bro." Luan said, her face sticking out between Lori's back and Lynn's calves. "Fire when ready. We got a huge chocolate cream pie waiting for us in the landing zone."

Well that explained a lot. Lincoln couldn't help but smile at the thought of his sisters agreeing to this stunt just because of the immense amount of chocolate that awaited them. He went to close the chamber, but Luan shot one of her arms out and stopped him before he had the chance.

"Hang on a second! You're gonna need these." She said, holding out a pair of soundproof earmuffs for Lily to wear. Then she also took out her novelty cigar-shaped lighter and stuck it into his mouth. "You can use that too!"

"Sure, thanks." He mumbled out, spitting the lighter into his hand. "Anything else? Last chance to let me know if anyone is having second thoughts."

"Don't worry about it." Luan said with a smirk. "We're staying put. It's gonna be a real _blast_!"

Luan laughed at her pun while the sisters around her groaned. Lincoln closed the cannon's chamber and sealed it shut. Then he set Lily down away from it and used the lighter on the fuse. Once it was lit, he hurried back and picked Lily up again, putting the earmuffs on her. He then took a seat on the bleachers with her in his lap, plugging his own ears as they awaited the blast. A boom sounded as the fuse burned out and all nine of Lincoln and Lily's sisters were launched through the sky.

"Now this is what I call a _high flying_ act!" Luan said, bursting into laughter.

"Woo-hoooo-ooo! This. Is. AWESOME!" Lynn exclaimed, pumping her fists out in front of her.

"We're blasting off again!" Lana shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Lisa shouted back. "We've never engaged in any such thing prior to this instance!"

"I know! But I always wanted to say that! It's from a cartoon I really like!" Lana replied.

The other sisters all shouted and cried together as they flew off and vanished with a twinkle, one after the other. Lincoln stared, a little slack-jawed at the sight. Lily raised up one little hand and waved in the direction her big sisters had flown off.

"Bye bye!" she said.

Lincoln stood up and started to walk back over to Vanzilla to wait for them to come back. Chunk was waiting were they were supposed to land so he could drive them back. Lincoln opened the side door to Vanzilla and set Lily into her car-seat, sitting next to her once she was buckled in. He leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms, relaxing while he waited for his other nine sisters to return.

Eventually, Lincoln's phone buzzed. It was a text from Lori letting him know they had all landed safely and were on their way back. She also mentioned that Lynn was not shutting up about wanting to get fired out of the cannon a second time, so they'd letting her go again once they arrived back at the field.

Lincoln smiled and shook his head. He just couldn't understand what Lynn enjoyed about getting shot out of a cannon. But if she really wanted to go again and again, then he'd happily oblige. After all, Luan did pay good money to rent that cannon. So Lincoln would do his part to make sure she got her money's worth.

End.

 **Well, that's all folks! Again, this was a request asked of me a while back so I really put time and effort into thinking this through. But still, any feedback on it would be greatly appreciated. I'll be setting straight to work on my other stories again now that this is done, so keep an eye open for an update on my profile. And as always, thanks for reading!**


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